To Keep You Safe
by twolipps
Summary: Brilliant scientist Bella McCarty has been receiving life threatening letters: Some one wants her dead. Jasper Whitlock is determined to do anything to keep her safe. A/H OOC
1. Chapter 1

**This is my very first attempt to write something other than the checks for my bills, and I do that online now! **

**Thanks to Cullen818 for taking the time to proof this!**

**SM owns them, I just try to kill them off!**

**To Keep you Safe**

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**BPOV**

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I was late. Really really late. I hated being late more than anything. Well, almost more than anything. I hated being trapped in an elevator for thirty-seven floors with strangers more. Strange men to be specific. Ever since the attack. Ever since the attack I always seemed to be running late.

But I didn't want to think about that. If I didn't think about it, then it didn't debilitate me; it didn't hold any power over me.

So what if I was now late for my own meeting just because I had to wait an extra fifteen minutes in the lobby to catch an empty elevator.

So what if I couldn't take the train into the city anymore because there were too many people in too tight of a space.

So what if I couldn't make copies in the little room off of my lab simply because the walls felt like they were closing in on me.

So what if I tended to freak out a little in the parking garage at night even when security walked me to my car; which is why I didn't go into the parking garage anymore.

So what if my own employees had to make a conscience effort to not approach me from behind or out of my periphery or even follow too close when walking down the hallways.

I was Isabella fucking McCarty, and I was **not** going to be defeated by some random mugging.

I fumbled in my suite pocket for the inhaler, inhaled twice off of it and let the medicine steady my breathing. Before the attack I rarely ever needed the medicine, but in the three months since I noticed an increasing tightness in my chest and shortness of breath that came usually before stressful situations.

I stood just outside of the boardroom giving myself thirty seconds to center my thoughts. No one but Emmett knew how much I hated getting up in front of a group of people and talking.

I cleared my throat and pushed the door open. Twelve sets of eyes turned to stare at me.

Emmett was standing at the podium, glasses on the tip of his nose reading from his notes. He cocked an eyebrow at me. He was mad.

"Nice of you to join us Ms. McCarty. I am so glad that you find us worthy enough to grace us with your presence at our small meeting here." He waved his had indicating the audience in the room.

He was really mad. Emmett was not a scientist, had no background in science and wanted to know nothing of the specifics of my project. The only thing he wanted to know was how much money it was going to cost him and how much money it was going to make him.

"I was just attempting to go over the data from the field research."

"Ah, that explains why everyone is asleep." I purposely slammed my briefcase down on the oak table causing everyone to jump in their seats. "I'll take it from here Mr. McCarty."

"What the fuck Bella?"

Emmett was yelling at me and yanking on his tie at the same time.

"Twenty four minutes late to a board meeting. You stroll into a room full of directors that are looking for any reason to toss us out on our ass and you show up twenty four fucking minutes late."

I kicked off the stilettos and curled up in his leather desk chair. He hated when I sat behind his desk. "They can't toss us out, I'm gonna make them so much money they'll be using it to wipe their snotty asses with."

He spun the desk chair around; hands braced on the armrest of chair and leaned down to look in to my eyes. "Listen here little girl, I will not put our fathers company in jeopardy of being lost to those blood sucking leeches just because you can't seem to get out of bed in time."

I wanted to kick him in the balls for that statement, but the look in his eyes told me that it would be better not to assault his person at that moment. I was just as committed to the company that our father had built from the ground up as he was. But at the moment his presence looming over me was my biggest concern.

My heart knew that it was Emmett, my over protective bear of a brother standing in front of me, yet my brain wanted my body to melt into the chair to get away from him.

He was standing too close in my personal space and it was starting to freak me out. I closed my eyes to try to separate the fear from reality. Reality was that Emmett was not a threat. Fear was that he was a man and standing way to close for my comfort.

I must have unconsciously made some sound because he stepped back immediately, eyes widening and face going pale at how his actions were affecting me.

"Oh God Bells, I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean…I forgot…"

I waved his apology away, changing the subject and trying to steady the beat of my heart. He only knew parts of the story of what had happened to me and was not completely use to my new fear of being in close proximity of others. "Em, I didn't over sleep. I couldn't get an elevator," I said softly looking down at my lap.

He all but flopped down into one of the leather chairs on the opposite side of the desk, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He only did that when he was stressed. The anger of before seemed to automatically pour out of him. "Next time have Felix clear one out for you."

"I cannot ask security to clear out an elevator simply because I'm too chicken shit to ride up like a normal person."

"There is nothing abnormal about you," he paused and smirked, "well, that's not entirely the truth. You do seem to have a few screws loose up here." He tapped his temple.

"You're not funny."

"Seriously Belly, there is no harm in asking for Felix's help. You just cannot be late to another meeting. It makes us look like we don't have our shit together."

"I know. I'll do better."

We talked more about the meeting and my project before I excused myself to go work in my lab.

"I've got a friend coming over Saturday for lunch. I need you to meet him."

"Need?" I asked. He never stressed the importance of me needing to meet one of his friends before. In fact he usually tried to keep me away from a lot of them, stating that they were too rowdy for me to be around. If he only knew some of the people Rose and I use to hang around.

"I've got that charity breakfast that morning. I should be back in time, but just in case I would like for you to be home to greet him." He explained.

I shrugged. "Sure, sure. I gotta pick up my bike earlier that morning, but I should be back by then."

I saw him tense up at the mention of my bike. Emmett was not necessarily warm to the fact that I like to ride and collect motorcycles. Of course they were okay for him and his friends, but as soon as I sparked an interest in them he considered them a nuance and a death trap.

Emmett ignored the statement about my bike, probably not wanting another argument.

"He'll be staying in the pool house overnight. Can you schedule Angela to clean it tomorrow? I keep forgetting to mention it to her. And I'll be grilling so she'll probably need to pick up some steaks."

"What's this guys name?

"Jasper Whitlock. He's a friend from college."

I turned to leave.

"Bella, I need you to be," he paused for a brief moment, "nice to him."

I quirked my eyebrow at him expecting him to explain himself. I was never not nice just because. Whenever I wasn't nice I always had valid reason. I just didn't randomly go off on people for no reason.

"Why would I not be nice to him?"

He didn't offer any other explanation and I dropped it, wanting to get to my lab. I had a few ideas that I needed to start working on.

Saturday morning I jogged tree miles into town and met my best friend Rose for breakfast. We sat at a little table outside of the quaint café and ate scones and drank tea. She had recently gotten back from a three-week trip to Paris and was sharing her shopping, working and sex-capades with me.

"I swear to God Bella I have never seen a fucking dick that big."

As she held up her hands measuring, about a foot apart, three old ladies walked by overhearing us. They scowled at us, not approving of the unlady like conversation.

"Shhh Rose, I swear you are so loud." I giggled.

She waved away the reprimanded, giggling herself. "If you had seen it you would be loud too. He had me screaming his name for hours."

"I'm glad you're home." Rose was more than just my best friend; she was for all purposes my sister. With the exception of when we went off to college or either of us were away on business, we had been inseparable since we were seven years old. And even though she had an apartment in the city she still had her own bedroom at our home too.

"Yeah, yeah, back to exciting old Sound Beach, Connecticut."

"So come by the house for lunch today. Emmett has some guy coming by and I may have to baby-sit him until he gets home."

"I don't know Bells, I've got a ton to do to get ready for festival, not to mention all of the unpacking."

Rose was an artist, a painter and sculptor. She was really good and one of the reasons that she had been to Paris for three weeks was that she was overseeing the shipment of several of her recently finished commissioned pieces. Her client had insisted that she accompany her work and have them personally set up in his home to achieve the maximum lighting and room design to coordinate with her masterpieces.

"Emmett's grilling."

"What time did you say, around noon?"

"Oh, so you'll come for food, but not for your best friend?"

"I cum a lot of different ways whore," she winked. "I'll be there."

We hugged and I left her to go to the bike shop around the corner.

Any basic maintenance that my bikes needed I always did myself. I had spent hours with dad in the garage when I was younger and had grown to love it because he did. But since I had moved back to the Sound almost a year ago my time was now divided between working in the lab and heading the marketing department of Applied Sciences at McCarty Enterprises. And besides, my vintage Ducati was different. I didn't want it sitting under a tarp not being rode simply because I didn't have the time to do the proper maintenance.

The shop owner Jake was also another of my best friends. He and Rose kept me balanced and usually if two of us were in trouble it was the other that got us out.

He understood what the bike meant to me, knowing that it was gift from my dad, and he cared for it as he would his own.

"Jake!"

"Bella, hey girl!"

I had known Jake for nearly fifteen years and up until three months ago his standard greeting had always been accompanied by a bear sized hug. I literally trusted Jake with my life, but to be enclosed within his arms even for a few seconds was too much to deal with now. I missed his hugs, we both did, but until I could find a way to deal with the paralyzing fear that came with them we settled for a simple high five.

We chatted for a while and then I changed into my suite that I had left with him when I dropped the bike off. It was one of those thick padded biking suites that I only wore when I had planned on doing some serious riding on the back roads. With my long curly brown hair secured at the nape of my neck I pulled the helmet on.

I had two hours before I had to be back to the mansion to meet Emmett's guest. Two hours to ride the back roads of the Sound and to be free from my fears and worries about strangers and elevators and closed tight places. I took off.

I slammed the side door connecting the kitchen and garage loud enough to be heard in the next county and flung my helmet across the travertine tile floor. It thudded against the stainless steel refrigerator door and wobbled off to the left. I flopped onto the sofa and kicked off my boots.

When I saw the black Crown Victoria in the driveway I had thought my head would explode. No body drives the speed limit. No body except little old ladies, grandpa's and soccer moms yelling at their bad ass kids in the back seat.

Four bloody fucking tickets! Four!

My chest was starting to feel tight and the suite I was wearing to protect me from road rash was now starting to make me feel like I was trapped in a sauna. I fumbled with the zippers on my pockets searching for my inhaler but I was unable to get my fingers to stop shaking.

"What the hell Bella-" Emmett rushed over to me knocking my fingers away. "Inhaler, in this pocket? Nod for yes."

I nodded so hard my neck hurt. I was starting to not be able to breathe at all now.

"It's not here Bella."

From the casual observer Emmett seemed to be the calmest individual in cases of emergency. His voice never cracked and his mind was always moving, forward thinking. But I knew that inside he was freaking out. He could do a lot of things, but making me breath on command was not one of them, and it scared the living shit out of him.

He ran to the built in desk and flung the drawers out, dumping the contents on the floor searching for the extra inhaler that he insisted I keep in every room of the house. Every fucking room. All fifteen rooms, not counting the bathrooms and the rooms that weren't even finished being refurbished yet!

"Jasper!" Emmett called frantically.

"Emmett, what the hell-"

"Help me man. Inhaler. One of these fucking drawers." Emmett was flinging papers and odd drawer junk onto the floor.

Jasper saw me struggling with the zipper to get out of the damn suite and ran to me first, not only unzipping it all the way down, but pushing it off my shoulders and down my arms and body as well. A shot of cold air instantly chilled my body causing me to take two quick breaths before the wheezing started again.

Jasper spun to his left and began searching the drawers contained within the island.

"Here!"

He was at me in an instant, forcing the inhaler between my lips and plunging downward on the smaller aluminum barrel. One hand kept the inhaler in my mouth and the other guided me down to the sofa, careful so that I didn't trip over the suite that was only pushed down to my knees.

He heard my breathing start to ease and plunged once more on the medicine barrel. "You're doing well Isabella. Just take it easy now." He crooned in my ear. " Yes, that's good, concentrate on steadying your breathing. You've just had too much excitement for right now, you're going to be fine."

I didn't know who this guy was, or why he took it upon himself to be Florence fucking Nightingale, but his bedside manner was immensely calming and quite therapeutic. Who knew that mumbling a bunch of garbage into someone's ear would get them to calm down.

Of course, later on that night when I had time to think about it, it wasn't what he said, but how he said it and how he looked while saying it and not to mention the current of electricity that seem to be coursing through my body from his firm hold on me. Think: full plump honey lips on a freaking god like man.

When my breathing finally settled I was able to concentrate on the rest of that which was connected to those amazing sweet looking lips. He was tall, almost as tall as Emmett, with curly brownish blonde hair that hung almost to his chin. And what a glorious dimpled chin it was covered with a scruffy beard.

I noted the way his tee shirt pulled across his chest, he was not as thick and muscular as Emmett, but definitely not scrawny either. His honey topaz eyes widened as I realized that he was watching me check him out.

I shut my eyes with a snap and leaned back into the sofa cushions, embarrassed that I had been caught ogling him.

"Now can you please tell me what the fuck all of the noise is about?"

I opened one eye and closed it. Emmett was standing over me, hands on his hips and not looking at me like someone is suppose to look at a sick person.

"Emmy I'm so sick right now." I tried to feign fragile. It always worked with dad and up until my seventeenth birthday had worked on Emmett.

"Shut the bull shit up Bella and tell me what happened? I'm not dad and you're definitely not seventeen anymore."

Shit.

He didn't move.

I sighed and sat up a little, resting on one elbow and the sofa cushions.

"I got four tickets." I mumbled.

"FOUR!" He roared, throwing his hands up as in defeat. "What the fuck Bella?"

"It's not my fault." As soon as I said it I was mentally kicking myself. But it was out there now and it was all I had to work with.

"Who the hells fault is it then Bella? Did the motorcycle fairy make you do it?"

He started pacing. He only paced when he got mad.

"I was trying to get home in time."

"In time for what Bella?" He asked, already knowing, teeth clenched.

I looked at Jasper.

"Oh, this is so not my fault." He stood, backing away, hands up palms out.

"If you and your slow junk heap hadn't been taking turns at ten miles and hour I might have made it on time."

"I'm sorry that my obeying the traffic laws of this county inhibit you from –"

"Not the laws, just the operator. I thought they stripped senior citizens of their right to drive when they got too old to remember to turn the turn signal off!"

I saw him blush and trying to remember if he had indeed driven for too long with the signal on.

"No, they take that right away with four tickets." Emmett said angrily flipping through said tickets that I had pulled out of my pocket. "Reckless driving, improper turn, following too closely and operating a vehicle without a valid drivers license. What the hell Bella? How did you even get home?"

"The pig made me walk the last three miles, pushing my bike."

"What? Which one of them was it?"

"It was Swan."

Charlie Swan was the Chief of Police and his hatred of our family was well known and widely talked about.

Emmett sat on the edge of the other end of the sofa, running his hands through his hair. "Start at the beginning."

I took a deep breath. "I was coming through town, turning right onto Main Street. You know it has that small turning lane and so I merged but didn't signal. Ticket one. Ticket two and three was when I was cruising along and ran up behind Mr. Slow Poke here and got the ticket for following too closely and The Pig said I was speeding through town. Ticket four is because I forgot to put my license in my pocket before I left the house this morning.

"Swan made me push the bike home since I refused a tow truck. He followed me the entire way to make sure I didn't get on it again. He even came up the driveway although when I told him he was trespassing he said that I should call the police and have them come and check it out. Fat bastard laughed the whole way too."

I took another pull on the inhaler. It was like nicotine to a chain smoker.

Emmett sat quietly. "You know that they will suspend your license when you go to court next week."

"Not if Jenks can fight-"

"No, you made this mess, we're not using our lawyers to get you out."

I jumped up to argue. "But-"

He stood to face me, well, to tower over me. He was a freaking giant compared to my five foot four inch frame. I hated when he did that shit, it was almost as annoying as when he went all psycho over protective of me.

"No Bella. You," he was pointing at me, "cannot let others fight for you. You made this mess, now you have to let the justice system deal with it." He repeated his earlier statement a bit more forceful than usual. "Now clean this shit up." He pointed to all of the drawer contents on the floor. "Rose called looking for you and said she would be here in an hour. We will eat then."


	2. Chapter 2

**TWO**

**I am posting Chapters 2 and 3 together on the same day in that this one is a little short. **

**Thanks to my amazing beta who is writing 3 freakin' awesome fics of her own as well as beata'ing for others. Thank you Cullen818!**

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**EmPov**

"She's going to fucking be my death." I said to Jasper, pouring brandy into two glasses.

"She's not a kid, and yet you still see yourself as a parental figure in a sense."

"Yes, and no." I sat down on the edge of the pool, sticking my feet into the water. The amber liquid sloshed in my glass. I sat silently for a while trying to think of a way to explain the relationship I had with my baby sister. "I know she's not a kid anymore, but sometime when I look at her it's like she's little again, and I'm picking her up after she's fallen or wiping her tears away when the kids at school were mean to her. And then there are times like today when I have to push her to accept her mistakes and deal with them as an adult."

Jasper was quite for a while. "Tell me about her, about how she is now."

Jasper at one time had been my closest friend. He knew more than many about how Bella and I had grown up, about how I had practically raised her myself since I was nine years old.

Since mom died six months after she was born.

He knew my stories of how dad had lived in a virtual state of working so as to not have to deal with an infant and a nine year old.

What he was asking for was information about Bella's attack and the person she was today. He needed to make a decision. I needed to be truthful.

"Bella is fucking brilliant. I'm talking Einstein brains. She has a two fucking Ph. D's. How many people have one? Chemistry and Engineering; both at the same time. She graduated two years ago from MIT. Valedictorian and shit like that. The first year she took off to travel, unwind from the papers and research that she had been constantly doing since she started school. Plus she had worked so hard in school that she didn't take the time to grieve for dad like she needed to.

She moved back here almost a year ago when she agreed to take her position in the family business. I sold the townhouse in Manhattan and we agreed to live here. Mom and Dad wanted this place for us. They wanted us back at the family home, together. But there were too many ghosts, ya know. We needed to make it more about who were are as adults. So we decided to redo practically the whole damn house.

Not quite three months ago she was leaving work late and was attacked in the parking garage." I paused, remembering the fear that jolted through me when Bella never came home that night. "I don't know all of the details, she doesn't like to talk about it. But two guys jumped her from out of nowhere. They kept asking her 'where is it?' and demanding that she hand 'it' over to them and she wouldn't get hurt.

As you can see Bella can be quite uncooperative when she wants to. She back talked them and practically taunted them until they tied her up and tossed her into one of the elevator maintenance closets. One of the guys umm…"

"Rape?" Jasper asked.

"No, he almost did. Bella put up quite the fight while she was tied up and managed to kick him in the balls. After that the other one, well you can imagine…"

Jasper nodded.

No man could even think about touching a woman after seeing his friend being dick assaulted by said woman.

"She was in that fucking maintenance closet for five days before we found her." I tossed back the rest of the liquid and got up to pour myself another. Instead of pouring it I just took the bottle back to the side of the pool and set it in between us.

"So what makes you think that it wasn't some random mugging?"

"Because they didn't take her wallet, or even the keys to her Vanquish. They took her laptop and her notebook. And left the fucking bag they were in. And did I mention that the security cameras in the parking deck show absolutely nothing. It's like we never even spent all that money on the most expensive security system known to mankind that is suppose to be tamper resistant."

I let Jasper absorb that one for a minute and down his remaining alcohol.

"How did you guys find her?"

"We searched every fucking where for her. The New York police department was not too happy about all of the resources they spent looking for her. On the morning of the fifth day the parking garage security guard heard a pounding on the door of that closet and got her out. Apparently they had hit her pretty hard on her head and she was in and out of consciousness for most of that time."

I finished the rest of the alcohol in my glass. Just thinking about what my baby sister had gone through trapped in a dark vermin infested maintenance closet half alive was enough to make me want to drink the whole damn bottle and then some. "And who ever the son of a bitch is, is leaving me notes in the mailbox."

"You have these notes?"

"Hell, do you think I'd let Sound Beach's finest look at them? They're in my office." I poured him another glass from the decanter that I had set in between us.

"I take it she doesn't know about them?"

"Fuck no. And right now I don't want her to."

I saw his raised eyebrow and tried to explain.

"Bella's asthma just started back. Shit, it's worse now than when she was little. When she's emotional it sets it off even more. She's terrified of being in confined places, especially with strange men. Hell, sometimes when I hug her just a little too hard or a little too long I can feel her fighting the urge to freak out. She's got too much going on upstairs," I touched my temple, "to add to all of that."

"But when she finds out-"

"Yes, I know. I've got a steel plated cup ordered to protect the family jewels." I joked, rearranging my "jewels" just thinking about loosing them to Bella's anger.

"What types of projects is she working on that someone would want her laptop?"

"I know just the basics, I'm not fucking smart enough to even describe them to you. A fuel alternative engine, a couple of environment clean up solutions. She will have to tell you. I do know that some of them are extensions from her dissertations and work she was doing at school."

"Tell me about her outside of all that has happened in the last month."

I sighed. Describing Bella was like interpreting a Dali painting. What she was to him was entirely different than what or who she was to someone else. Her personality was a constant swirl of adaptation. She fit in everywhere but at the same time nowhere.

I told Jasper as much.

"But she is fiercely loyal and loving above all."

**BPOV**

I tossed my motorcycle suite onto the floor of my closet and slammed the door. It was unthinkable for me to not use legal representation in court. The kind and fair judicial system of Sound Beach would have my ass in jail without someone there to speak for me. And orange was so not my color. There was no way I could go six hours, six days, or six months without a driver's license.

Emmett was upset, so I would just let him calm down for the next day and a half and then ask him again for help. I would just need to be on my best behavior and be agreeable to him. And be nice to Mr. Slow Poke.

By the time I had jumped in the shower to clean off the road dust I heard Rose's shrill laughter floating up the backside of the mansion and through my balcony doors. I pulled on my new emerald green bikini and tied a yellow contrasting sarong around my waist and headed downstairs.

Sound Beach was a small community and news traveled at the speed of lighting. I needed to get downstairs before Rose mentioned my speeding ticket situation to Emmett. She was my best friend, but she also had the unfortunate condition of having a big fucking mouth. The less the situation was brought up, the less Emmett would be reminded to be upset about it.

"Hey girlie!"

I was all but running toward her and misjudged my pace on the steps down to the patio. You know that sick feeling you get when you know you're about to fall and can do nothing but look at the ground knowing that it will end badly?

It took me about ten seconds to realize that I had not in fact smacked in the ground like the physics of the universe dictated. Instead it was a wall of well-developed pectoral muscle and a pair of rather large biceps that ensconced me.

"Still think I'm slow?" Jasper Whitlock whispered, more like crooned in my ear with his sex honey voice. He was apparently near the steps and caught me before the ground broke me.

"I haven't seen your IQ scores yet." I pushed his arms away as he stood me upright.

"Funny." He released me, stepping back. "That's two times now."

"Two times what?"

"That I saved your skinny ass." He smirked.

I was beginning to not like this Jasper Whitlock. Not only had he potentially put me in danger of loosing my driving privileges, he was now laughing at me.

"Bella take those damn shoes off." Emmett shouted from across the pool and making his way toward us with a plate of grilled steaks and burgers. "And you two cut that shit out. Both of you are acting like four year olds."

He sat the plate in the middle of the table. "It occurred to me that I had not properly introduced you two, but then I figured what the hell, you've already been fighting like you know each other anyway. So instead, Jasper please meet Rosalie Hale. Rose is Bella's best friend and one of my constant annoyers."

"Hey, I resemble that." Rose faked offense but then smooth as silk offered her hand to Jasper. "So, what brings you to Sound Beach Mr. Whitlock?"

My attention peaked at this question. I of course had known that he was coming, but I had no idea why and to be honest, until this moment had not even cared why. He was Emmett's friend, and that's all I had needed to know then. But since he had, as he put it "saved my life twice", I thought that maybe I could at least pay more personal interest in him. Besides, he could possibly help me motivate Emmett to help me with my court appearance next week.

"I am contemplating a job offer." He said simply.

I knew Rose well enough that I could practically see her mind turning. What appeared to be an available, gorgeous – did I just say that – man, was within a ten-mile radius of her unquenchable lust. She slid up to him, wrapping her hands around one of his biceps.

"And what line of work are you in?" She asked, batting her eyelashes and leaning forward enough to show the proper amount of cleavage.

"Rose," Emmett chided, "can you please get you man hooks off of Jasper?"

"Don't be jealous boo, you know you're still my number one Big Daddy."

Emmett made a choking sound and went to sit at the head of the small patio table. He looked so much like our father sitting there that I gasped and choked a little, fighting back tears.

"Bells, you ok?" He asked.

Being from a partial Italian family we had been required to speak the language at home. It had been Emmett's responsibility to ensure my proper training in this area as I began to learn to speak. And even though Father was no longer alive, at times there were no words in English to convey the feelings that Emmett and I expressed to each other, especially when we were speaking about our parents.

"Si guarda in modo molto simile padre seduto." (You look so much like father sitting there.)

He reached for my hand, kissing the back of it. "Padre sarebbero stati orgogliosi di voi." (Father would have been proud of you.)

"E anche voi, fratello." (And you too, brother.)

**JPOV**

From the moment that we met I knew that I would be taking this job. There was something about Bella McCarty that intrigued me and drew me to her. She was feisty and beautiful. She was smart and funny and every time she touched me it felt like small bolts of lighting through my skin.

I loved the way she argued with Emmett and then still looked up to him as her big brother, protector and head of family even though she didn't have to. They had a different type of relationship and with Rose thrown in the mix it definitely made for an entertaining time.

I finished the check of the perimeter noting how many doors and windows were on the first floor of the house and making notes on upgrades of locks that Em needed to look into. I familiarized myself with the alarm system and the blueprints to the fifteen rooms that the house had. This place was fucking huge and they didn't even use half of the rooms.

It was a little after two in the morning when I finally fell exhausted into bed. While I didn't really suffer physically from jetlag anymore my brain still felt the time change and it took a while to fall asleep.

I thought I was dreaming when I heard the screaming. The rising crescendo was close by and intensifying. My body reacted before my brain did and I was running, gun in hand and searching for the source of the screams.

Bella's balcony door was open. Screams like that could only mean that she was in trouble and needed immediate assistance.

Thankfully I had the good sense to deactivate the alarm to the main house before I ran in guns blazing. As I topped the stairs taking them two at a time I heard Emmett's voice, deep and soothing.

Bella's bedroom door was cracked and I peeped in to see him sitting on the edge of her bed with her curled in his lap. She was crying and had a death grip around his neck. He didn't seem to mind the chokehold she was giving him as he rubbed her back and reassured her that it was just a nightmare. More like night terrors from the sound of it.

I crept quietly back downstairs not wanting to disturb them, wondering how often this happened. No one should live in fear like that, constantly watching over your shoulder in the day and sleeping restlessly at night all the time wondering if your next step was your final step.

Whatever it took I was going to make sure that Bella McCarty never had to wonder about her safety again. I vowed to do all that was necessary to keep her safe.


	3. Chapter 3

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter Three**

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**Thanks to my beta Cullen818 for keepin' me straight!**

**Please review if you like it.**

**Remember: SM owns it!**

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**EmPOV**

"When are you going to tell her?" Jasper asked.

I shrugged. "So you have decided then?" I kicked back in the leather chair and looked at him.

He nodded. "I'll have my secretary fax you the contract."

"She's never going to agree to this. You're not exactly her favorite person now."

"She will adapt." Jasper said, turning away from the floor length window in my office on the thirty-seventh floor of McCarty Enterprises to meet my gaze. "And she will be safe."

He folded his large frame smoothly into one of the leather chairs in front of my desk.

"She will make your life a living hell." I absent-mindedly drummed my fingers on top of my desk thinking about the hell she was going to make my life as well.

"I've seen enough of her the last few days to realize that. But believe me, I'll have a few extra zeros added onto that figure to make it well worth it."

I rested my head in my hands, elbows on top of my desk, trying to phrase in my head the conversation that I now needed to have with my sister. Her day was already fucked up.

Ten months suspended license. She either had to take the train everywhere or let Tyler, my driver and personal assistant, drive her where she needed to go. Given the frequency and intensity of the threatening letters that were being left about her, taking the train was definitely out of the question.

"I still don't want her to know about the letters. I will tell her if I need to."

Jasper agreed verbally, although I knew he thought Bella needed to know all of the facts up front. I also knew that he would never tell her. That would be my fight. "You know that it will not be an option if it keeps going like this." He picked up one of the little zip lock bags containing one of the letters that sat atop my desk and read it aloud.

**All things must die**

**Clearly the blue river chimes in its flowing**

**Under my eye;**

**Warmly and broadly the south winds are blowing**

**Over the sky.**

**One after another the white clouds are fleeting;**

**Every heart this May morning in joyance is beating**

**Full merrily;**

**Yet all things must die.**

**The stream will cease to flow;**

**The winds will cease to blow;**

**The clouds will cease to fleet;**

**Bella's heart will cease to beat;**

**For all things must die**

**Bella must die.**

"Man, that's fucked up." Jasper said, tossing the letter back on my desk. "This fucker is quoting Tennyson and inserting her name to send a death threat."

"Yeah, I figured that he didn't just come up with this shit on his own, so I goggled the first two lines and Tennyson's poem came up. I wonder if maybe this fucker is some literary nerd or something."

Jasper shook his head. "Nahh, just like you googled it, anyone can. It's so elementary that it's like he can't think of his own shit so he has to steal someone else's. It has to be someone that wants information on one of her projects. Maybe he can't come up with his own ground breaking invention, so he's looking to steal Bella's."

"Makes sense." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "She's just got too many other demons to deal with now. I don't need her constantly looking over her shoulder, that's what I want you for."

"Hey man, you know I'll do anything to keep her safe."

I did know that, which was the main reason I hired him. I was entrusting one of the most important things in my life to Jasper. "You know she is not going to ride in the Crown Vic."

Jasper leaned back into the chair and grinned, crossing one leg over the other. "It's a fabulous car."

"I don't want to fight her on this one Jasper. Just take the damn BMW." I tossed him the keys.

"Its got class is all I'm saying."

He accepted the keys and we talked for the next few hours hammering out the details.

**BPOV**

I sat at my lab desk staring at the screen on the computer. I didn't want to be at work today. I didn't want to _be_ anywhere. My emotions were running all over the place. All I wanted was to ride my motorcycle across the state on back roads and forget everything that was associated with my life for the moment. But of course I couldn't do that for another ten months.

I picked up the phone.

"I'm going home for the day." I told Emmett.

"Are you sick?"

"No."

"Don't you have deadlines?"

"Don't you have a life?"

I could hear him take a deep breath, holding back his anger. He was still mad at me about the ticket situation, but then again, I was still mad at him about that very thing too. So screw him.

"I'm not driving you home. I have work to do."

"I'm taking the train home thank you very much. I'll have Angela pick me up at the station in Greenwich." How the hell was I going to get on a train full of people and I couldn't even ride a damn crowded elevator in my own building was beyond me. But I needed to get out of my office. The walls were closing in on me.

"I need you to stop by my office on the way out."

"Your office is not on my way out," I said flippantly.

"Bella!"

"Emmett!"

"Get your ass up here. Now!"

I pushed him too far and I knew it. Common sense would dictate that I remain calm and apologetic and that mood would rub off on him. Well sense isn't common or everyone would use it and I was notorious for not using mine when angry so why the hell should I start now.

It took me fifteen minutes to just get a clear elevator and then I stood in the coffee room down the hall from his office for another five just to make sure he was good and angry by the time I got there.

The sight of Jasper sitting at the small conference table in the corner of his office infuriated me. I had to do a double take to ensure that it was indeed Jasper. He had cut his hair and shaved his scruffy beard. Not only that, he was wearing a designer cut navy suite with a blue gingham shirt and a pink and blue horizontal stripped tie.

"What the hell do you think you're looking at Slow Poke?"

"That's enough Bella."

"No it is not enough Emmett." I said, matching my tone to his. "And who do you think you are to order me around? I'm not your office bitch."

"For once will you shut your damn mouth? And sit down too," he pointed to one of the chairs at the conference table.

"I'd rather stand. It makes it easier to leave."

"You aren't going anywhere right now." He stood blocking the door. "And you will cut the attitude this second."

Something about the way he said that had me mentally backing down. It was like looking at my father and suddenly I felt very embarrassed by the way I had been acting. Truth be told, Emmett was more of a father at times than our own father had been even when he was living.

"First of all, when I ask you to come up here it wasn't an order and it shouldn't have been a hassle."

"Technically it _is_ out of the way." I huffed.

It was. His office was on the thirty-seventh floor and mine was on the thirty second.

He ignored that. "Second, you will stop blaming someone else for your mistakes. You have to realize that it was _you_ who made the mistake, no matter how slow someone else was driving."

"Hey, thanks man for selling me out!" Jasper grinned.

"See, even you said he drives too slow."

"Yes, and you drive too fast. That is not the point of this conversation. Thirdly, -" He paused, seeming to not know what to say. "Please, can we sit down and have this discussion?"

I didn't like the way this conversation was going or the way Emmett was looking. He looked like he was preparing to be kicked in the balls. Instead of sitting at the table he pulled me down to the sofa, taking my hands into his large warm ones and being careful not to crowd my space.

He began by speaking softly in Italian.

"Bella, you know that I love you?"

I nodded.

"You know that when you were missing it nearly killed me."

I started to pull my hands away but he held them without letting go. "I don't want to talk about this." I switched back to English.

Talking about it meant that I had to remember it, remember the smell of that closet and the darkness that surrounded me. I would have to remember the feel of that creeps hands on me and the constant thought that I would die and no one would find me. I had lain, tied up and gagged, in vomit, urine and feces for nearly five days and I didn't want to think about it anymore.

He continued talking. "I hate the fact that you can't ride on the elevators with others. I hate the fact that you don't like people walking behind you or that you can't go to the parking garage. I hate the fact that you constantly look over your shoulder and feel you have to be tough and not talk about this because it really scares you. I hate the fact that I can't hug you without worrying that I'll freak you out. I just want you to be safe."

"Why are you saying this?"

"Because you are not dealing with this well."

"I told you that I don't want to see some shrink. I'm fine."

"I know that you feel that way and I can't make you talk to some one about this."

"But? I feel a 'but' coming in there somewhere."

"But I _can_ keep you safe."

"What are you talking about? I _am_ safe. It was just some random mugging."

He ignored my comment about it being just some random mugging. We had gone over the details of the incident enough times to know without a doubt that it wasn't just some random mugging. But I was trying to convince myself that everything would be okay. It was my way of mentally shielding myself from the truth. I guess if I heard it enough times then I would start to believe it myself.

"Jasper owns a personal security company here in New York."

At the mention of his name, Jasper came around to sit on the coffee table in front of us. "Emmett has hired me to be your personal security guard, to watch your back so that you don't have to."

"No." I struggled for a moment but he still wouldn't let me go.

"Bella," Emmett said, squeezing my hands, "this is not negotiable."

"Everything in business is negotiable." I said quoting our father.

"You do not want to bring him into this Bella," Emmett warned letting my hands go free.

I stood up and backed away from the both of them. "So, how much is Emmett paying you? I can triple the amount easily. I have a trust fund too."

"It doesn't work that way Bella. Emmett came to me as his friend. I have an agreement with him and it is his friendship that I will be loyal to."

"How dare you Emmett McCarty. I am twenty seven years old and you are _not_ my father!" I screamed at him.

He was at me in an instant, grabbing my arms and shaking me. "Don't fucking tell me what I am to you. I'm the one that wiped your ass when you were a baby. _Not him_. I'm the one who at nine years old sat up nights when you were teething or sick or scared. _Not him._ I'm the one who rushed home from college when you got your first period. I'm the one who held you all night when Aaron Samuels broke your heart in the ninth grade. _Not him_. I was there. I will always be there. So don't you damn tell me what I am and what I am not to you!"

He slightly pushed me away with tears in his eyes. When he spoke again I thought my heart would rip at the sound of agony in his voice. "I cannot spend another five days worried sick and wondering where you are. Praying that I didn't fail you or _him_ for that matter. You won't let me help you here," he touched his temple, "let me help you in this way."

I was leaning against the window while he was speaking and my legs seem to not be able to support my weight. I collapsed into a puddle with my legs tucked under me. Emmett came and stood over me for a second before taking a place on the floor beside me. He hesitated briefly, silently asking me for permission to be touched. I nodded and he pulled me into his arms and cried together. It wasn't until much later that I realized that Jasper had left us alone.

I had conceded to the fact that Jasper was going to momentarily be apart of my life for the next however long, but what I wouldn't conceded to was making his job easy for him. If it was Emmett's plan for him to accompany me everywhere, then everywhere is where I would go.

Emmett and Jasper decided that to be effective he would have to live on site and so he had permanently and temporarily moved into our pool house that same day.

I woke him up the next day at 5 am to go jogging. At three miles he started to lag behind me, and since my lungs were feeling good I ran an additional two for good measure. Take that motherfucker.

On Thursday not only did I run the three miles but decided to rearrange my morning meetings and did a two-mile hike on the trails behind our property. When we got back to the house I thought that he was going to pass out. I smirked at him as he sat on the patio steps wheezing and trying to catch his breath and went to shower.

On Friday I started my morning off with the same three-mile jog but for lunch Rose and I had a marathon-shopping trip. I spent more money than I had planned and had purposely been more erratic in my selections, going from one store to the next and back again. What we couldn't carry we dumped on Jasper and when he was near stumbling from all of the packages only then did I arrange for them to be sent home by courier.

They had both reassured me that Jasper would not be standing over me at every second of the day and that I wouldn't know he was even there unless I looked for him. The next week I tested the truthfulness of this theory and disappeared for a few hours in the building.

Since I knew all of the nooks and crannies of the ten floors that McCarty Enterprises occupied, I went from department to department hiding from Jasper. It was childish, but to see the look of frustration on his face after 'just missing' me was well worth it. By the time he caught up with me before we were to leave for home that evening he looked like he wanted to strangle me.

"I met with Carlisle today for lunch." Emmett said as we were waiting in the lobby for Tyler to bring the car around. I refused to go in to the parking garage and since I was now riding to work with Emmett and Jasper, they made arrangements for Tyler to just bring the car to the front of the building everyday.

Dr. Carlisle Cullen was on our board of directors and had been our father's closet friend. He was our strongest supporter in taking over the business.

"How did it go?"

"The board needs a place to have the annual gala. Since the Stanley Mansion burned down a couple of months ago they have been unsuccessful in finding a location that isn't already booked."

"And let me guess, they want to use our place?"

He nodded.

"But we are months away from being ready ourselves. They just started on whole left wing last week."

"Yes, but visually we don't have smoke and ashes. Besides, the scaffolds have been taken down and the landscaping is finished. We could do a lawn party, a couple of tents and a dance floor or something."

"Or something? Do you know how much planning an event like this takes?"

He shrugged, opening the car door for me.

"So hire someone."

"Please tell me that you didn't already agree to this?"

"Well, it's kinda expected of us."

"Emmett! We're talking hundreds of people; tons of food, an entire wait staff that has to be hired. Flowers and musicians, set up crews and take down crews. I have deadlines with my own work."

"So hire someone." He repeated.

I was insane to think this, but I was desperate and pulling at straws. "I'm sure Jasper cannot protect me with all of that going on."

"I have a staff of seventy five highly trained personal security agents in this part of the country alone. I can have more reassigned if need be." He spoke from the front seat.

"Thanks a lot Jasper," I said with more sarcasm than necessary.

"Look, it won't be that bad. I'll get Charlotte to pull some names of event planners that we have used in the past and give them to you Monday. Let's just not think about it this weekend."

I sighed and settled back into the seat staring out of the window. The car was so silent that I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I heard was Emmett waking me.

"Are you expecting company?" Jasper asked us as I gathered my workbag and purse to get out.

"No, why?"

We both looked in the general direction of his minute nod. Emmett looked at me concern in his eyes.

"Are you ready to see him?"

I swallowed hard. "It's now or never I guess."

"I can tell him to go to hell."

"No, I want to do that part."

Edward Anthony Masen was leaning on the side of his car, arms and ankles crossed and looking like a model in GQ magazine. He looked up when I slammed the car door and gave me a crocked smile. The same crocked smile that use to melt my heart and make me weak in the knees now just made me want to kick him in the nuts.

He approached Emmett first, shaking his hand and requesting permission to speak to me. Edward was always formal and respectful of headship if nothing else.

"I'll be in my office if you need me." Emmett said before going into the house with Jasper.

Edward waited until we were alone before speaking. "Hi."

"What do you want Edward?"

He reached for my hand and then thought better of it. "Can I talk to you?"

"I'm listening."

"Can we walk for a minute?"

I sighed and nodded, turning for the gardens that ran alongside of the house where Emmett could see me from his office window.

"How have you been?"

"How dare you ask me that Edward?" I snapped. "How the hell do you think I've been?"

"I'm sorry, that was a dumb thing to say. What I meant was…hell, I'm an ass, a stupid bastard and I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

"Don't be mad? Are you crazy?"

"I know. I know."

"Do you really know Edward? Do you really know what it's like being assaulted and trapped for five days not knowing if you are going to die at any moment? Do you know how it feels to have the person who says that they love you call you three times in three months after something like that happens? I saw you only once after they found me."

"I screwed up, I know. Please don't hate me."

"I had to hear from your sister last week that you were in town, and you still didn't come to see me. I loved you, you were my best friend."

"I still am. I love you too."

He reached for me but I stepped back out of his grasp.

"You didn't return any of my calls. I needed you and you weren't there."

He sighed and fell down on to the garden bench, wearily running his hands through his already messy bronze hair. "I know," he said quietly, "my uncle died while I was in Sicily."

We were both silent for a while. I knew that he was close to his uncle. He was the son that his uncle had always wanted, especially after having eight daughters. And with Edward's own father dying when he was ten, his uncle was more of a father than just a relative. But none of this excused his behavior.

"I am truly sorry for your loss. I wish you would've told me sooner. I would've liked to send your aunt flowers."

"I am head of the family now," he said softly.

"Then perhaps you should get back to them."

I turned to walk away but he caught me around the waist, pleading with me. He didn't know my fears of being held too closely. He hadn't been around to know. I pushed him away.

"I will do anything Bella, anything. Please, I just want you back."

Part of me longed for him, and part of me was completely repulsed by him. Edward and I had dated for four years and for the last two years of that I had begun to feel that he was putting the needs of everyone else above my own.

He would make declaration after declaration of affection to me, and I always forgave him. He had promised me over and over that I was one of the most important people to him, yet they were just words.

Words when not backed by deeds were empty and meaningless. I needed to feel loved the way I made him feel loved. I needed to be cherished and respected the way I cherished and respected him. I had spent all of this time loving him and trying to be everything that he needed and I still felt like I wasn't good enough for him.

For the last year I had been asking myself why was I still with him. It was true that I loved him, but was I _in_ love with him? Looking at him now, the answer was obvious. Love should not make you feel inadequate.

And part of me was still stupidly hanging on, wanting in reality what seemed to only be in my head.

"Prove it."

I walked away.

"Did you kick his ass?" Jasper asked eagerly.

I slumped into Emmett's desk chair, kicking off my shoes.

"No. I think I am a moron."

Emmett sighed. "You took him back?"

"No, I know I'm a moron. I gave him an opening. It's up to him now."

"No, it's not Bells. It is your decision to be miserable or not." Emmett corrected, staring out the window.

"His uncle died. How could I stomp on him after that?" I played with the ceramic paperweight in my hand. It was suppose to be a duck, but it looked more like a whale. Through one of Emmett's many attempts to get me to tap into my artistic side he had enrolled me into the same summer art class that Rose was taking when we were ten. It was the only class that I had ever failed. Emmett said that if I failed the class then it had served its purpose, no one was suppose to succeed at everything all of the time. "He says he's head of the family now."

I heard Emmett's sharp intake of breath. "What did you say?"

"His uncle died while they were in Sicily." I twirled around in the chair. "What?" I asked tossing the duckwhale back and forth in my hands as Emmett stared at me like I had grown another head.

"No, the other part."

"He's head of the family now. What's so special about that? You're head of our family."

"Are you really this naïve?" Emmett asked coming to stand in front of me. "Bells, please tell me you know what this means."

"What the hell are you freaking out about?"

Emmett laughed. "I cannot believe that you don't know. You two dated for like four years, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Edward's family is nothing like ours. Both of his parents are Sicilian. He has a million relatives here and there."

"So what? They like to procreate. Big freaking deal."

"You are the smartest dumbest person I know." He laughed hysterically, yanking on his hair.

I didn't know what the hell he was talking about and was starting to get annoyed at his cryptic speech. "What are you talking about?"

"He's been selected as family head, he took the oath. He has what like four other uncles that live here that could be family head, yet he's been selected at what, twenty-eight years old? You do know the type of business he's in, right?"

"Yes, of course. Edward went to law school."

"And he's never practiced law."

"So what? It wasn't something he was passionate about when he finished. He runs the U.S side of the winery now. What oath are you talking about?"

"And I'm sure he's over the importing and exporting side of it as well."

"Their business is totally legit."

"Bella, please." Emmett said using that condescending tone that he knows I hate. "Think about it. When you have a family that large, being the head of it means a lot more than just running the family business. It means organized crime. In that he was selected as Head while he was in Sicily means he's got enormous responsibility and power. He went to law school in order to know how to avoid and evade the law, that's why he was selected."

"You can't know any of this for sure. This is not TV."

"No, you're right, it's not TV. Because if it were, I wouldn't be scared shitless for you now. I don't want you around them. Ever."

"You're about four years too late lil buddy." I reminded him.

"Four years ago he wasn't head of one of the largest crime families on the East coast. Four years ago he loved you and hadn't taken the oath. Now he just wants to possess you."

"No one possesses me and you don't know any of this definitively. And what the hell is this oath you're talking about?"

"The oath, the _Omertà._" Jasper said. "The Sicilian code of Silence. If he is in fact the Head of the family now, then those under him live or die by his command."

I sat there staring at the two of them. What they were saying made sense, but this was Edward we were talking about. Sure he was close to his family, but that was a cultural thing, not some organized crime thing. Right?

"His sister's engagement party is next weekend and Rose and I are both in the wedding. We are planning on going."

He shook his head. "That is not a good idea. I do not want you there."

"I've known his sister since we were in first grade. She is one of my closest friends. I am going and nothing is going to happen to me."

I could see him thinking.

"Jasper, you got a tux?"

He turned to Jasper who was standing at the window being seen and not heard. He was good at fading into the background. Sometimes when Emmett and I would get into our heated arguments I would forget that he was even there.

"Baby blue, complete with the ruffles, white socks and black patent leather shoes." He grinned.

I scowled at him.

"Oh no, this is a family affair, I do not need Deputy Slow Poke hovering over my shoulder. Besides, you know that Edward is not going to like that."

"I don't give a damn what Edward wants. Either Jasper goes or you don't. I am head of _this_ family." He pounded on the desk for emphasis.

I looked at Jasper and sighed. "If you embarrass me, I swear I will slash the Crown Vic's tires."

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**A/N: The poem was taken in part from a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson entitled 'All Things Will Die'**

**For the Italian in Chapter 2, I used igoogle translate, so please forgive me if it is wrong! Sadly my brain only works in English and sometimes that is off!**


	4. Chapter 4

**To Keep You Safe**

**Four**

**Thanks to Cullen818 for beta'ing this!**

**Remember: SM owns it!**

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**BPOV**

I was in the garden taking my frustrations out on the weeds that had wrapped themselves around my dahlias when the idea came to me. For the most part I considered myself to be an even-tempered person, able to tolerate even the worst of situations. Hell, being trapped in a closet for five days tended to set the bar high on the bullshit meter. The insignificant things that use to matter just don't anymore. But for the last few days he had just been pushing too many of the wrong buttons and I was on the verge of breaking.

So this was where I find myself. Standing in front of the infamous Crown Vic.

Slashing someone's tires wasn't as easy as it looked in the movies. Rubber is hard. Really hard. And unless you've got a really sharp knife and muscles the size of a professional wrestler, then the knife just gets stuck halfway in and halfway out.

I pulled and pulled on the handle of my switchblade knife until it felt like my arms were Jell-O. Bracing one foot on the side of the tire I pushed with my leg against the rubber and pulled and wiggled the knife in the opposite direction. This time it released, sending me stumbling back and nearly falling.

My plan was to slash one back tire and one front tire, but with the effort extended in slashing just the back tire, I quickly abandoned that plan for something else at a later date.

I closed the switchblade, not wanting to inadvertently stab myself, and bent down to check my handiwork. There was about a three- inch slice in the wall of the tire but the air was not leaking out as fast as I thought it would.

Emmett's voice followed by the harmonic sound of Jasper's alerted me to get the hell out of dodge. I took off in a runner's sprint going the opposite direction from where I heard the voices.

I made it to the back of the house and up the back stairs to my room just before the front door opened and Emmett came in. Jasper had to go into the city for a meeting with Felix, the head of security at McCarty Enterprises. They were meeting about the security system and specifically the cameras. Jasper requested that they do it on a Saturday afternoon so as to not raise suspicion if one of our employees were involved in any way.

Emmett was not too thrilled about escorting Rose and I through a day of shopping and mani/pedi's, but since this whole security thing was his idea anyway he had to suck it up and comply with his own rules. Serves him right though, and his misery was my pleasure.

I was just getting out of the shower when I heard the front door slam and my name being yelled from three floors below. Jasper had found out and he was mad.

At the time of executing my brilliant plan I had forgotten that he was leaving and may be taking his own car. Oops!

"BELLA!"

I quickly threw on a pair of distressed faded blue jeans and a plain white tank top. If I was about to do battle with a Warrior then I was going to need my range of motion free.

"BELLA!"

"What the hell are you screaming about Jasper?" I heard Emmett ask as I was coming down the stairs. He had been working in his office and now both of them were standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"YOU," he pointed an accusing finger up at me, "you slashed my fuckin' tire!"

Jasper's face was red from yelling and his hair was wild from yanking on it. For a fleeting second I thought to deny his accusations. My plan was to just get him back for embarrassing me, but then the events that caused me to slash his tire came to mind and I quickly decided that I wasn't just going to chicken out and hide behind ignorance of what I had done.

I didn't know whether to play it cool or act defensively about it. Either way would piss him off even more, so I shrugged, deciding to play it cool for now. "I warned you."

"You warned me? What the fuck are you talkin' about Bella?"

"Remember what I said would happen if you embarrassed me?"

He thought for a second and I saw his light bulb go off. "So you slash my fuckin' tire? Are you out of your damn mind?"

Emmett turned and looked at me. "You did what?" He asked in disbelief.

I shrugged again.

"You're just gonna blow this off like it's nothing?" He stepped forward a little. I was still on the bottom step so that made our height almost even. "Why don't you quit actin' like a bitch?"

_A bitch?_ He's got the nerve to call me a bitch?

If he thought that was me acting like a bitch then he ain't seen nothin' yet.

"God I hate you!"

"Good, I hate you too you little shit!"

"You're a fuckin' moron!" I screamed.

"And you're a _spoiled_ bitch!" Jasper yelled back at me.

That one stopped me. I stood there panting from screaming so loud and trying to figure out how to dismember Jasper's limbs one by one. I didn't care if he called me bitch, but I'd be damned if I let him call me _spoiled_. I was not and never would be spoiled.

On impulse I flew off the bottom step at him ready to scratch his eyes out. I wanted his blood on the floor. He caught my wrists before my fingernails raked down his face and easily spun me around, trapping me within the confines of his arms. I screamed directly in his ear.

My screams momentarily distracted him and just a second before he let me go I managed to twist one arm out of his steel like embrace and I elbowed him right in the gut. He released me, doubling over.

"I'm through with this shit!" I screamed at Emmett. "From now on I don't give a damn what happens to me, I will not put up with his shit any longer." I said pointing at Jasper.

"The way you're actin', it won't be long before someone's off'ed you anyway!" He yelled back, rubbing the place on his stomach where my elbow had connected. "Although I can't blame them for wanting to. Actin' like a _spoiled_ bitch."

I could tell that he was saying it only because he thought it pissed me off. And it did. I went for his eyes again, but Emmett caught me around my waist in mid flight and held me securely in his massive arms with me kicking and screaming.

"What the fuck Bella?" He yelled, restraining me.

"See, see what I mean? I'm not-" I struggled with Emmett

"Shut up both of you!" Emmett roared, releasing me and holding his hands up for us to be silent. "Now tell me what the hell is going on. Why did you slash his tire? And be calm about it." He added seeing me get fired up again. "Better yet, sit down." He pushed me down onto the bottom step.

When I refused to say anything he stood in front of me, hands on hips and staring down at me disapprovingly like our father use to do. I hated that shit, coercing me to speak using a silent guilt trip.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Emmett." I wasn't afraid of Emmett. He was my brother, not my father and I wasn't eight years old anymore and afraid to be punished. He couldn't make me do or say anything. Right? Right. I crossed my arms in a huff.

"Bella." He warned, matching my tone. And then he soften his stance and relaxed his facial muscles, no longer glaring at me. "Please."

I always broke when he said 'please'.

I sighed. "You know that Engineers for the Future alumni assembly that I had last week in Cambridge?" He nodded and I continued. "Well the whole way there Jasper keeps doing these u-turns and detours. At first I wasn't really paying attention because I was going over my notes for my speech. But as we pull into the parking lot of the Kresge Auditorium Sheriff Walkin' Tall here _jumps_ out of the car and yanks the guy out of the car that parked behind us. Turns out it was _PROFESSOR_ O'Hara, my old Mechanical Engineering advisor."

"The car was following us the whole way." Japser said in his defense. "When I turned, he turned. Every detour I took he was right behind us."

"The man's sixty-five year's old and has for years followed the left turn theory!"

They both looked at me like I had just grown another head.

"_A what_?" Emmett and Jasper asked simultaneously.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Several years ago a group of professors tested the theory that making left turns burned more fuel than right turns. On average, you spend more time waiting for left turns thus burning more fuel, and left turns lead to a higher rate of collisions than almost any other traffic maneuver. The results were staggering; a fifteen percent…"

Emmett knows not to ask me anything about science because I tended to be long winded and just as I was about to launch into more of the results he held up his hand to stop me.

"Get back to the story Bella."

"Oh yeah. Anyways, Deputy Slow Poke slams _Professor _Liam O'Hara against the side of his car demanding to know why he's following us. Professor O'Hara is so scared that he can't get anything out but a few pharses in Gaelic _and_ the man pisses himself in front of half the engineers that had gathered in the lot to see what was going on. I had to literally pry Jasper here off of the old man. They damn near canceled the assembly."

Emmett looked back and forth between Jasper and me. His lips twitched and both were fighting the urge to laugh. Jasper broke first and that pissed me off. I launched myself at him again. This time I managed to get in a few punches before Emmett pulled me off.

"Dammit Bella, sit the fuck down." Emmett ordered, wiping blood from his own face. I had managed to nick him with one of my fingernails.

"Is that _all _that happened?" Em asked as if he expected more.

"Is that all? Isn't that enough?" I asked. "They canceled my speech. I'll probably be kicked off the committee!"

"Listen," Jasper said, "I'm just trying to keep you safe. The car was followin' us and I needed to know why."

"Why would you think that a Honda Hybrid concept car shaped like a _box_ would be driven by someone following me to kill me? You really are a moron!"

"At least I'm not a–"

"Shut up!" Emmett yelled again.

"What the hell are you hillbillies yellin' 'bout?"Rose asked coming through the front door. "I can hear you almost at the road."

"Don't ask." Emmett said, pinching his nose with his thumb and index finger. He turned and looked down at me. "Bella, you cannot go around slashing peoples tires."

"You did what?" Rose asked, eyes going big. "Who was it, that whore Jessica Stanley? Please tell me you cut that bitches tires to fuckin' shreds."

"No, she slashed my tire; more like punctured it. I had a blow out about a block from here."

"Oh, that was your junk heap I saw by the road in the ditch." Rose laughed and high fived me.

"I damn near died and you're laughing about it?"

I was laughing with Rose but stopped at that. I had only meant to get back at Jasper for embarrassing me; I wasn't trying to kill him or anybody else.

"It was really that bad?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I swerved when it blew. Thankfully no one else was on the road."

I looked down at my lap, ashamed that I had acted so badly. What Jasper had said was true, I _was_ a spoiled bitch. "I'm sorry. I wasn't tryin' to hurt you or anybody, I swear. I didn't even know you were taking your car."

He sighed and cautiously stepped forward. He was probably trying to figure out if I was faking in order for him to get close enough for me to attack him again. He knelt down in front of me.

"I'm sorry too." He took my hand into his very large one. "I shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions about the car following us and I'm sorry your committee has you under review now." He touched my face. "Hey now, stop crying."

This time when I launched myself at him it was to hug him, nearly knocking us both backward. He steady us and wrapped his arms around my waist. I still didn't like the fact that Jasper was essentially my babysitter/bodyguard, but I could at least stop acting like I hated him.

Rose snorted. "Well ain't that just about the cutest thing you ever saw."

"Shut up Rose." The three of us said in unison.

**

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**

Rose and I were giggling like teenagers. We often got ready for parties together but tonight was different. She was trying to distract me from myself.

I had told her about my decision to end things with Edward and she all but danced a jig in front of me. Why is it that everyone can see the error of your ways long before you do? I was grateful that they all had my back and yet let me have the time I needed to realize for myself what I needed to do.

"You stand your ground girl. If he starts anything you know I will cut him for you."

"He's not going to start anything Rose. His entire family will be there."

"I'm just sayin, let the mother fucker cross the line and he won't be makin' no babies anytime soon." Rose in ghetto bitch mode was not one to be reckoned with. "You know I carry my shiv with me wherever I go." She reached into the bodice of her dress and pulled out a tiny switchblade.

'What the hell Rose?" The fact that she had gotten something other than her breasts inside of her tight bodice was beyond me. But I shouldn't be shocked that she had put it in there to begin with. After all, this was Rose we were talking about.

"We were girl scouts remember? Always be prepared." She quoted the motto and secured the knife again.

"That's the _boy_ scouts motto."

"Whatever, it still fits the situation."

I dismissed Rose and her shiv and rechecked my makeup in the foyer mirror while she fussed with the hem of her dress. She was in red, a heart stopping, whore on the corner color red floor length gown with a heart shaped bodice that plunged nearly to her navel and a slit up one thigh that almost met the end of the bodice plunge. Her blond hair was twisted and piled high on top of her head with a few pieces hanging down. She would have half of the men panting over her when she walked through the door.

I on the other hand was not that daring or confident enough to pull something like that off. My one shoulder emerald green gown hugged my soft curves and complimented the olive undertones of my skin. My chocolate locks were pulled into a side bun with a large cream color dahlia pinned in my hair.

Rose whistled and I turned to see Jasper coming into the foyer through the kitchen. He looked amazing in the black designer tuxedo. Instead of the standard bow tie it was a skinny black tie that stood out against the fitted white shirt. I had to remind myself that this was Deputy Slow Poke, Walkin' Tall, and to stop staring at his purposely-messy hair.

_What the hell is wrong with me? _

"Fuck me, you're hot."

"Rose!" I shouted, blushing at her outburst.

He grinned and spun so that we could see the total package. I thought my heart would stop. "No too bad yourselves McCarty and Hale."

"You ladies look lovely." Emmett said coming up behind me. He kissed my cheek. "Call me if you need me tonight."

"I'll be fine Em."

"Whitlock, a word please."

He pulled Jasper aside and Rose and I continued primping in the mirror.

"You are the luckiest bitch in town."

"What the hell are you talking about Rose?"

"You got Mr. Sex livin' in your pool house, followin' you around everywhere you go and you are worried about hurting Edward's feelings?"

"Jasper is not some stud horse Rose. He's Emmett's friend and he works for us."

"Oh, I would definitely have him workin' me." She turned and gave him an appreciate stare. Fortunately his back was to us so he didn't see her ogling him. "He's probably hung like a fuckin' horse too. Look at the way those pants fit over his ass."

"Shut up Rose." I warned.

"Ass of fuckin' steel." She continued.

"Rose, _please_."

"I mean, imagine sinkin' your nails into each ass cheek as you came." She grunted, holding her fingers up in claws. "My gawd!"

I didn't want to look. I really really didn't want to look. This was Jasper, Deputy Slow Poke, Walkin' Tall, we were talking about. The same man who drove like a little old lady with a turn signal on. I didn't want to look. Oh who the hell was I fooling; of course I wanted to look!

I looked.

Ohmigod! It was just my luck that as soon as I turned to check out the ass Rose was describing Jasper glanced over at us and waved! Great, now I'm gonna have to go around all night wondering if he heard her and saw us checking out his assets.

I felt myself turning beet red. Rose just grunted again and licked her lips at him before turning back to the mirror. She had no shame.

"He could probably crack walnuts with those thighs." She sucked on her front teeth and pushed her boobs up with both hands.

"Rose-"

"I know I'd like to crack his nuts! He's probably got one helluva cum face."

"ROSE!" I said through clenched teeth.

"I'm just saying," she held up her hands in defense, "If Edward ain't laying the pipe down, then it's time to find another plumber girlie."

**EmPOV**

"What did you find out about Edward?"

"My men are still checking, but from what it looks like, what you were telling Bella is right."

"I don't think he will be difficult tonight." I said to Jasper, trying to convince myself.

"But tomorrow he might be." Jasper finished my thought.

I nodded. "He came here today while you were out with Bella. He doesn't like the fact that I hired someone for Bella. He understands why you are here, but he wanted me to accept some of his own men for her protection. He wasn't happy when I refused."

Jasper nodded. "He wants control."

I agreed. But that was the one thing that he would never have, control over Bella or anything to do with our family. "Do you need an extra set of eyes?"

Jasper nodded. "I've got someone scheduled to arrive soon."

"Right now Bella does not need to know she's got an extra person on her detail. We can work out a cover story later. I don't want either of them there longer than necessary tonight." I said looking at my sister and Rose primping in the mirror. They were my family and I was sending them out into a lion's den tonight.

"I don't think that will be an issue."

**BPOV**

I wasn't really nervous until Tyler pulled up to the front of the house and opened my car door. If it weren't for Rose pulling me out of the car, I don't think my legs would have worked. Jasper saw my distress and pulled me to the side waving Rose on ahead of us.

"You don't have to do this tonight."

"Maybe you're right. I don't want to cause a scene. It's supposed to be a happy occasion for his family."

I had been at constant war with myself. The scientist in me made me realize a couple of things for sure: one, Edward would never change, two, I had. I was no longer the person I use to be when we first stared dating. I wanted more out of life than to be apart of a family where pumping out a baby was almost a requirement for the first year of marriage. I wanted someone to love me for me, all quirks and loose screws together.

Edward was in love with the possibility of what our marriage would mean. Two influential families uniting. I wanted passion and fire. I wanted to not feel like my opinion and position in our marriage didn't matter to him. Thinking about how I felt during the three months he was away had my blood boiling.

How could you love someone and not respond to them after you learn they had been missing for five days? How could he just carelessly dismiss me, like I had been on an extended weekend girlfriend getaway or something? I had old classmates that had responded better than he had. Hell, the café owners in town had responded better, sending me cards and flowers and covered dishes.

I had turned these thoughts over and over for a week. I had to end it for good and I was thinking as soon as tonight. Emmett was right, if I choose Edward, then I was choosing to be miserable. This conclusion came to me one night while playing a game of midnight basketball with Jasper. We had had a few in depth conversations over the last few days and he was always patient with me, allowing me time to express myself.

Jasper's warm hands were on my shoulders as he turned me to face him. I didn't think my breathing was too off until he pulled my inhaler out of his pocket. Ever since that day in the kitchen he had made it a point to always have one on his person in case I forgot mine. I accepted the medicine and took a quick pull from it.

"Just relax, okay? Close your eyes for a few seconds and clear your head."

I closed my eyes and leaned against him for support, unaware of and not really caring about the parade of people alighting from their cars and going up the red carpet steps into the house.

"What are you doing to her?"

Edward's harsh tone brought me back to reality. "Edward-"

He captured my hand and practically yanked me away from Jasper making me wobble on the stairs and I nearly fell. Jasper caught and steadied me.

"Masen-" Jasper practically growled in warning.

"Take your hands off of her." He shoved Jasper with the hand that was not holding me. "Your services are not needed here. As long as she is in _my_ home Isabella will be safe under _my_ protection. You on the other hand can wait with the drivers."

His rudeness sparked anger in me that I suddenly realized I needed to make it through the night. I ripped my hand out of his grasp.

"Don't you dare talk to him like that Edward. Jasper is a friend of my family and I will not have you disrespecting him."

He immediately sobered, taking a deep breath and bringing his emotions under control. "Of course, you are right my love. My apologies Mr. Whitlock, I'm just a bit over protective of what is _mine_."

I didn't like the fact that he had just verbally marked me as his property, but I ignored his word choice and his proffered arm for assistance. This was not the time or place to debate word semantics with him. I made it up the steps myself chanting encouraging phrases under my breath the whole way.

His blatant display of rudeness and possessiveness had me rethinking the conversation that I knew I needed to have with him and the longer I waited the worse it was going to get.

Large tents had been erected in the backyard and people were milling about in small circles talking. Waiters circulated trays of food and wine. An orchestra was playing in one tent and a buffet line was under another next to it. I found Ana Marie and we talked for a few minutes before she had to move on to greet the crush of people that were starting to come in.

There were so many people that I was starting to feel panic creeping up the back of my neck. Edward had an endless cycle of people to introduce me to and after a few hours I was beginning to feel weary from smiling and making so much small talk. Not to mention that my feet were begging for mercy in the shoes that I was wearing.

Edward was engrossed in a conversation with one of his many business partners prattling on about the wine production of his vineyard. I was tempted to kick off my shoes while standing there. No one would know, as my dress was floor length with a little train. I was just about to kick one shoe off when Edward's mother spotted me.

"Bella!" Edwards mother made her way to me and kissed my cheeks, hugging me tightly. "I'm so glad you're here _mia figlia_."

"Sophia!" I hugged her back just as tightly. Edward's mother and I had become very close while he had been away. She had come to visit with and even help Emmett nurse me back to health after the mugging. "It's a wonderful party." I lied.

She harrumphed. Sophia was a simple woman who came from a small fishing village in southern Portugal. After marrying Edward's father and being adopted of sorts into his colossal family she had learned to deal with the pomp and circumstance that went along with the Masenetta family.

From what I had been told of Edward Senior, for he had been killed long before I had even met Edward, he was a force to be reckoned with. Much like my own father, he was a business tycoon who wouldn't take no for an answer and ruled with a firm hand. It was only after he and Sophia had immigrated to America that he had changed their last name, saying that a more American version of it would lead to better business.

"It's too much." She whispered, gesturing wildly. "There are five hundred people here and this is just the _engagement _party. What will the wedding be like?"

"Sophia –"

"Does it matter if two people spend fifty dollars and go to the court house or spend five hundred thousand dollars? They will be married all the same, no?"

"Actually I –"

Once Sophia was wound up there was no stopping her. She grabbed my hands and pulled me to down to her five-foot even height. "You have to talk to Edward about this. He won't listen to anything I have to say on the matter. He's out of con-"

"Mother please." Edward said, turning back to us. "Isabella does not want to hear about how much we have budgeted for Ana Marie's wedding." He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

Whatever silent conversation they seem to be having had stopped Sophia dead in her tracks. She huffed. "I'm still your mother Edward Antonio Salvatore Masen." She snapped, turning on her heel and fled across the lawn.

"Don't mind her." He muttered. For the first time that night Edward seemed to really look at me. "You must be tired, but you're so lovely tonight, my love." He kissed me softly, nibbling on my bottom lip and for a brief moment I saw flashes of my old Edward in his eyes. The Edward that I knew from when we first met in college. The Edward that was so sexy that he made my mouth water and my hands sweaty. The Edward that use to care.

"Edward we need to –"

"Masen!" A rather large man clapped Edward on the back, knocking him forward into me. "How the hell are ya son?"

"Aro!" Edward exclaimed, accepting the handshake. "I'm so glad that you could make it. How have you and Heidi been?"

"Just great, wonderful in fact. We just got back from Europe and heard the news last week. Congratulations son, you'll do a wonderful job."

"Thank you sir, most kind of you to say so."

"I was wondering if maybe I could run something past you." Aro nodded in my direction indicating that he need a private moment to say whatever he needed to say to Edward.

"Oh yes, yes of course." He turned to me as if he suddenly realized I was standing there. "Oh Isabella, please met one of my father's associates, Aro. Aro this is my Bella."

Aro extended his hand to me. I accepted, placing my small hand into his rather larger one. He hovered for a second, bowing over my hand and minutely caressing my knuckles with his thumb as if he were reading me someway. I thought that it was odd, but dismissed it as he released me.

The two men excused themselves and disappeared through the crowd.

Throughout the night I had been noticing how differently people responded to him. His relatives usually laughed more and were more animated in their actions were now more subdued and looking to him for direction. Even his own staff seemed more alert and overly eager to please him. His security team hovered and spoke to each other in hushed tones, eyes constantly roving and searching the faces of the crowd. At first I thought that I was imagining it until Rose mentioned it to me in passing.

On a whole everything had been going well until Edward left my side. As bad as I didn't want to be near him, his familiar presence was at least comforting and secure and with him standing next to me it kept the crowds of people at bay. With him now gone I felt as if I were being swallowed by the sea of people around me.

I was trying to find a way around everyone when Rose suddenly grabbed my arm.

"Hey girlie, you look like you're about to jump out of your skin."

"It's too many people." I wheezed. "They're too close."

"What's wrong with her?" Edward asked, coming back to my side.

I fumbled in my purse for my inhaler.

"The crowd is too much and she can't breathe. Listen girlie, calm down okay? I'm gonna find Jasper and we'll take you home. Just hang in there for a few more minutes." She took off like a rocket.

I nodded, still searching for my inhaler. I now knew why Emmett insisted on keeping so many of the damn things around the house and office; I could never find one when I needed it the most.

"What the hell Isabella, you just got here." He said angrily, emerald eyes flashing black to mirror his mood. Old compassionate and caring Edward was gone and in his place was the new and not so improved Edward.

"Edward, I know but –"

"Could you please stop breathing like that, you're embarrassing me," he snapped, looking around at the crowd. People were indeed staring but I was betting that it was because he had just snapped at me rather loudly, not due to the fact that I was wheezing.

"She can't help it dumbass, it's called asthma and she can't _breathe_," Rose said, pushing him out of the way. "This motherfuckers gonna make me get my shiv out." She muttered under her breath.

Jasper eased past Edward and pressed the inhaler into my hand; the two of them circled around me blocking out Edward. I felt myself being pushed down into a chair and Jasper knelt in front of me.

"I'm going to get Tyler to pull the car around, okay?"

"No, she's not leaving yet." Edward said near panic. "There is the toast. My family expects her to be here for that. I'm sorry my love, but I need you for this. And it sounds like you're breathing better. You have to stay, just for a little while."

"Edward, I'm so tired, and there's so many people here. I really just-"

"I know my love," he knelt down in front of me now, nearly knocking Jasper out of the way, "but I have to do just this one last thing for Ana Marie. Rose, you and Mr. Whitlock can leave if you wish. Isabella can stay here with me and I will make sure she gets home in the morning."

I saw Jasper about to protest. We didn't need to make any more of a scene than we already were so I quickly stood and took Edward's hand. "No, we'll stay through the toast."

"Fabulous, I want you to sit at the table with Mother and I promise you can rest."

The orchestra was instructed to stop playing and everyone turned their attention to Edward in the middle of the floor, holding the microphone and waiting until the crowd murmur subsided. Most family speeches were given in Sicilian, as many of his older family members refused to speak English unless absolutely necessary. He praised his sister and her fiancé and welcoming him into the family. He kissed her and hugged his future brother-in-law. His mother cried and held my hand.

It took me a few seconds to realize that he had switched to English and was now walking toward me.

"One thing I have learned from watching Ana Marie and Angelo is that you should never let your loved ones go. If you find someone special, then hang on to them."

It was all-surreal, and perhaps had it been happening to anyone but me I would have cheered and cried along with the rest of his family and friends. Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out a little powder blue box and dropped to one knee.

Right. In. Front. Of. _ME._

* * *

**A/N: Walking Tall is a reference to Sheriff Buford Pusser who brought down a gambling and moonshine operation ran by The State Line Mob in the 1960's. He walked tall and carried a big stick.**

**_mia figlia _= my daughter**

**Hey guys, please do me a major favor and review. Things are going to start to get interesting pretty soon, so let me know your thoughts: Do you like it? Hate it? Which parts? Any suggestions?**


	5. Chapter 5

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 5**

**Thanks Cullen818 for beta'ing! You rock!**

**SM owns them all. Me, a hope and a Jasper dream!**

**I'm posting a day earlier than planned. I hope you like it!**

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**BPOV**

"Isabella Marie McCarty, you are the most beautiful woman in the world to me and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

I saw his mother and grandmother crying again. Ana Marie was smiling. His aunts were watching with their respective husbands, nodding their approval and a reporter was no more than ten feet away from me snapping pictures.

Rose was across the lawn apparently digging in her bodice for the shiv, preparing for a fight. Jasper was next to her, arms crossed with an angry look on his face. I felt like the universe was sitting on my chest and for a few seconds I forgot how to breathe.

Edward squeezed my hand and brought me crashing back to reality. I looked down at him. There was no way out and he knew it. He knew I didn't like making a public spectacle of myself and he knew that there was no way I would or even _could_ reject him in front of so many people. Half of the board of directors for McCarty Enterprises were present, not to mention a good many of Emmett's business associates and rival competitors. Edward had planned this from the beginning and his devious smile confirmed it.

I was trapped.

The feelings that coursed through me were similar to the ones of when I had been trapped in that closet for five days. No way out.

I _had_ to play his game tonight and tomorrow I would find a way out of this clusterfuck.

"Yes." I said softly with a nod.

The crowd erupted in a cheer and I could see Sophia and his Grandmother crying even harder and holding each other.

He grabbed me up into his arms in a kiss, spinning me around until I really couldn't breathe. In the four years that Edward and I had dated we had kissed many times. But tonight was different. Tonight this kiss was about him claiming what he thought was his property. This was not passion and this was not love. This was the signing over of a deed, a deed to Bella Land.

He held me close, one hand on the small of my back and the other behind my head in my hair to hold me in place. His lips were hard and demanding while he all but shoved his tongue down my throat.

When he finally set me down I was taken up again by all of his aunts, uncles, sisters and cousins. I was passed from family member to family member and kissed and hugged and fawned over until I wanted to scream.

Reporter after reporter took our picture until I was near blind from the flash. I was tired and near falling when I finally caught up with Rose and Jasper again. She took my arm and refused to let me go even when Edward protested, and we went home.

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****JPOV**

"Jazz, can you help me with something?" Bella called on the intercom system.

I pushed the talk button. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen pantry."

I tossed aside the book I had been reading and made my way across the bottom half of the house to the kitchen. It was unusually quite for a Sunday afternoon. Rose had gone into town to her studio and Emmett had flown out that morning for a business meeting in Georgia. Bella and I had the house to ourselves and she had taken advantage of the quite and solitude to do a little house cleaning. Not one for cleaning, I had made sure to stay the hell out of her way.

I pushed the kitchen door open and was greeted by the sight of pots and pans, perishable and non-perishable foodstuffs and every kitchen gadget imaginable sitting atop every available surface. Bella was cleaning the cabinets out and was currently within the depths of the massive restaurant size pantry. Boxes were piled in front of the doorway and all I could see was the top of her head.

"What's up?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

She turned and smiled at me so brightly I swore that it lit up the room. "That box, I can't reach it." She pointed up to the top shelf at the very back of the pantry.

"Step aside 'lil lady and let a man take care of that for ya."

She giggled. It was nice to hear after the night she had had with Douchebagward.

"I think it's just a few old appliances that we never got rid of."

I stepped around the boxes and thankfully held my gasp back. Bella was standing there looking up at that top shelf with the most amazing smile on her face and the fucking hottest tiniest emerald green bikini top and skirt on. It was different than the other emerald green bikini that she had worn before and why the hell she was cleaning out the pantry dressed like that was beyond me, but I was forever grateful for the view.

My palms started to sweat and I wiped them on the leg of my shorts. Lambchop's 'This is the song that never ends' started running through my mind as I attempted to keep my cool and keep my eyes off of her unbelievably beautiful tits.

"Jazz," she said touching my arm, "the box."

"Huh? Oh yeah." I shook my head to clear it and reached up to grab the box. It was heavier than I thought and I lowered it to the floor with a little _bang_. She squealed a little with delight and bounced on her delicate French manicured toes. I started at those toes for a second, noticing how perfectly shaped each one was. "Umm, anything else?"

"Not at the moment." She said, and then she turned to the box and bent over.

Right. The. Fuck. In. Front. Of. Me.

The tail of that tiny emerald green skirt flipped up and showcased the matching emerald green and white polka dot bottoms underneath. But that wasn't all it showcased. He perfectly round ass was in the air and her glorious tits were swinging with every movement.

_Can we say hard on? _

I must have made some sort of sound because Bella looked back over her shoulder at me, ass wiggling and tits swaying at the same time.

"Jazz? You ok?"

I nodded mutely. I had no words. The only thought was to flee. I stumbled back and instead of going _out_ of the door I stumbled back _into_ the door effectively shutting it.

I was trapped.

In the pantry.

In the pantry with Bella.

In the pantry with Bella and that fucking hot emerald green bikini.

I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth before I either choked on it or it ran down my chin. My hands nervously sought the knob behind my back but for some unknown reason I could not find it. Bella smiled at me again and turned all the way around, approaching me.

"Jazzy, it's okay." She said with a husky voice. "I feel it too."

"Huh?" I croaked out.

"The lust, desire. I see it in your eyes." She pressed herself against me and the back of my head hit the door with a _thud_. "I see it in the way your body responds to me." She moved closer and then smiled when she felt my erection between us. Her hands came up to my face, slipping behind my head and pulling me down to her. My entire conscious mind was screaming at me to get the hell out of that pantry. "I want you," she lightly kissed my lips, "so bad."

I couldn't move. I couldn't talk. I couldn't even breathe. I blinked down at her.

Bella's tongue was hot and wet and urgent against my own. And against my better judgment my hands seem to find themselves resting on her hips, daring to pull her closer. So instead of waiting on me, she stepped closer to me, if that was even possible, and deepened the kiss, urging me onward.

I couldn't help myself. My hands found purchase on her beautifully sculpted ass cheeks, underneath the little polka dotted bikini panties, one in each hand, and I pulled her to me, grinding my very hard cock against her. She moaned in my mouth and jumped a little, wrapping those fuck hot legs around my waist.

I turned around and pressed her back against the door. She arched her back away from the wood, seeking the friction that only my body could afford her.

"Jazz," she panted as I kissed down her neck, "I want you so fucking bad."

With one hand and the door supporting her weight I brought one hand around to the front of those little panties and pressed against her clit through the fabric.

Bella was fucking dripping.

She moaned again and began kissing down my neck, thrusting her hips forward into my fingers. Her arched back pushed those perfect tits into my face and I didn't waste a moment sticking my face between those glorious mounds.

"God Jazz, I wanna taste you." She moaned breathlessly against my ear and without warning unhooked her legs and slid down my body.

_What the fuck? _

Before my brain fully realized what the fuck was going on, Bella had my shorts around my ankles and her hot little hand around my dick.

"Bella, we can't." I protested weakly just for the sake of protesting. I mean, what man in his right mind would turn down a blowjob by a fuck hot chick?

Not me.

"Shh, I want you Jazz," she said, looking up at me with those big chocolate eyes, lips hovering over my dick.

I felt her take me into that hot, wet mouth of hers and - -

"_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"_

I bolted upright in bed sweating, panting and looking around me lost. My alarm clock continued it's obnoxious blaring until my brain kicked in and I slapped it off.

It was a dream.

Just a dream.

A dream so incredibly erotic that the hard on I was sporting was sure to turn to blue balls if I didn't do something about it soon.

I sat on the edge of my bed in the pool house willing my dick to behave.

No such luck.

I literally had to take things into my own hand and went and jumped in the shower.

I am in so much fucking trouble, I thought as the water poured down on me. Ever since the first day when she came tumbling down the steps into my arms in that fuck hot emerald green bikini I've been lusting after those long luscious legs, those big chocolate eyes and her DSL's.

That's dick-sucking lips.

That plump full bottom lip was the remote to my dick. Every time she bit down on that fucker I thought I was going to explode. Isabella Marie McCarty is the fucking hottest thing on two legs I have ever seen in my entire fucking life and even when we fought like cats and dogs I wanted her.

And now she was publicly engaged to one Edward fucking Masen, dickhead extraordinaire. Dickheadward was his new name. I swear I could feel my blood boiling in my veins every time I saw that fucker touching her.

Everything about the previous night had pretty much gone wrong. It started off with it taking longer to get there than it should because I notice a black four-door sedan following us. I had Tyler detour several times before I was satisfied that we have lost the car. Bella and Rose seemed to not notice and I was not inclined to tell them anything, especially since the last time I thought a car was following us. I didn't need them freaking out over potentially nothing and I didn't need anymore slashed tires.

Before the car even pulled up to the Masen mansion I could tell that Bella was starting to freak out a little. Over the last few weeks we had grown closer and while she still had not fully accepted the fact that I am her assigned personal security guard, she had at least started to allow me to help her relax in stressful situations.

She sent Rose on ahead of us and I pulled her to the side, encouraging her to refocus her thoughts and center her breathing. I had been showing her some self-defense techniques and every time before we practice I would send her through a round of meditation before we start just to get her in the right frame of mind.

I was modifying these techniques as Edward approached us, demanding that I take my hands from her and telling me to wait with the other drivers. I resisted the urge to break his fucking face and allowed him for now to take care of my Bella.

_Yeah that's right, she's my Bella and she's been my Bella ever since she fucking slashed my tires. _

How weird is that? Among other things it took her slashing my tire to realize that I was digging this chick _hard_ and that I wanted her for myself.

Anyways, I knew that should some altercation between Edward and I arise I would be immediately be escorted off of the premises and possibly killed. That would do neither Bella nor Rose any good.

All night long I had to watch that fucker with his hands all over my Bella, parading her around like some sort of trophy, introducing her to his 'business' associates. One of them I recognized immediately, Aro Volturi. If I had any doubt before that Edward was involved in organized crime, then the sight of him talking to Volturi confirmed it. Aro was as crooked as they came.

The endless night gets even longer and when Bella says that she's ready to go home and he starts demanding that she stay and pulling on her arm I'm about to loose my shit for real. Bella sees this and steps in between us, agreeing to whatever he wants at the moment to keep me from pounding his face in.

The shit that he pulled with the proposal is royally fucked up and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. Hell, there's nothing anyone can do about it at the moment.

Much later that night as I was sitting in the hot tub I could hear Bella from her open balcony door crying herself to sleep. I wanted to go to her and reassure her that I would protect her and that she didn't have to worry about Edward fucking Masen. I wanted to hold her in my arms and show her how a real man treats his woman.

But I couldn't.

My job was to keep Bella safe, and with what we were dealing with, the death threats and now Dickheadward, I could _not_ afford any distractions.

_Could I?_

* * *

**BPOV**

Rose tossed the front page of the _New York Times _Society section down on the patio table. I didn't need to look at it to know what it said; a huge picture of me wrapped in Edward's arms and then a smaller offset picture of the seven-carat Tiffany Legacy diamond ring that adorned my left hand. A tiny but expensive shackle.

"It's all over TMZ too." Rose informed us.

I felt like I was going to be sick.

"What do you want to do?" Emmett asked, sitting down across from me. He had his head in his hands, elbows resting on the table.

"I want to cut off his balls and feed them to his new Arabian horse."

"Ooh, can I do that?" Rose asked, grinning and bouncing in her seat trying to lighten the mood.

Emmett had just as much right to be mad as I did. In our culture it was a tradition that the prospective groom was to ask the head of the family for the daughter or sisters hand in marriage. To not do so was an insult to the family.

Because Edward knew that Emmett and I are not the traditional family, he took it upon himself to eliminate this step. Technically Emmett had a right to speak out against the engagement but this would pose several problems for us in that it was already announced publicly.

Our very conservative board of directors would not like this, as I would be fodder for over zealous TV reporters and Internet gossip bloggers that would tout me as being fickle and ill prepared to head a division of McCarty Enterprises.

There was also the not so little problem of Edward's new position in his family. If indeed he was the head of an organized crime family, it may pose more of a physical threat to us if I broke off the engagement. I didn't want over zealous thugs and wannabe mobsters breaking down our door to impress their new boss. I stated as much to Emmett.

"He called while you were sleep. He wants to talk to me this afternoon, in about an hour."

Jasper sauntered over to the table and all but flopped down in one of the patio chairs. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he had been running all night.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked Jasper.

He looked at her then he looked at me and then Emmett and then back to me. "Yeah."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Emmett asked Jasper, one eyebrow raised.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Nothing man."

Rose grinned. "You look like you been fuc-"

"Nothing is wrong," he said through clenched teeth cutting her off. "I'm just fine."

"Geez, chill out, I got tampons upstairs if you need 'em." Rose turned to me. "What are you going to tell him?"

"I'm gonna give the ring back." I simply said. "What are _you_ going to tell him?" I asked Emmett.

He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I will agree with you when you tell him that you are not marrying him."

"He may try to hurt us." I pointed out.

"He won't." Jasper simply stated, chomping down on the double layer burger he had just assembled from the platters of food that Rose had brought out earlier.

It scared me how simple yet pregnant his statement was. He and Emmett had obviously talked about this and had prepared for a possibility of violence, yet they were both assured in our continued safety. I however did not want anyone getting hurt because of me. I felt the guilt wash over me and it rested heavily on my heart.

"Do _not_ feel guilty about this." Jasper said as if he could read my emotions. "I can see it in your eyes already. You had no choice but to accept his proposal last night."

I shook my head. "I should have ended it with him the day he came here. And now you all may be in danger because of me."

"No, the danger is because that prick is an insecure bastard." Jasper reasoned, pulling me close to him, forgetting his food. I relaxed against his chest, fighting the tears brimming in my eyes and ignoring the quizzical look Emmett was giving us. Not four days ago we were at each other's throats and now Jasper was comforting me and soothing my fears. "I won't let him hurt you or any of us."

* * *

**BPOV**

He arrived like clockwork; Edward was never late for anything. I greeted him at the door and before I could stop him he had his arms around me and was kissing me. I use to love kissing Edward. Now it just made me want to gargle with bleach.

"You were so tired last night my love. Did you get enough rest today?" He asked tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

I nodded, trying to pull my left hand away from his. "We need to talk Edward."

"Of course we will, but your brother and I have business to discuss first. Where is your ring love?"

I ignored the question about my ring. "Emmett is in his office, but I told him that I needed to talk to you first." I started walking toward the library knowing that he would follow.

"In the library?"

I was a master intellect in the laboratory and a witty comedian in small informal groups, but during times like these no matter how much I practiced or didn't practice my words never came out in the right order. He sat on one end of the sofa and I sat in front of him on the edge of the coffee table.

"Edward, I never expected you to propose last night."

"I know," he was grinning, "I wanted to surprise you." He took my hands into his. "You were so beautiful last night," he repeated.

"It certainly was a surprise. But Edward, we have not talked about marriage in a very long time."

"Yes, but you know that I love you and you love me. It just seemed right."

"Really, what was right about it?"

"You needed me to prove that I love you. That's what you said a few weeks ago. So I thought, how else could I prove to not only you but the rest of the world how much you mean to me?" He turned my hand over. "My love, where is your ring?" He asked again.

I ignored the ring question again. "I said a lot of things a few weeks ago Edward. Like how it's been nearly three months and we've only talked three times. You came here begging me to take you back and now you've _proposed_. Publicly at that."

"What are you trying to say?"

I slid slightly to the right and opened the drawer of the coffee table, pulling out the small powder blue box.

"I'm saying that I cannot marry you Edward."

I put the box in his hands. He stared at it for moment and then smiled. "Love, I know that you can't marry me right away. I know that we still have a few things to work out and then there is a lot of planning to do. Ana Marie has already been driving me crazy with that." He opened the box, attempting to put the ring back on my finger.

"Edward, listen to me." I stopped his hands. "We haven't been close in months. We both have been in and out of the country and I've moved back home with Emmett. We don't talk like we use to and even though I live less than ten miles from you I hardly ever see you. I'm-"

"Yes, once you quit your job and move into the mansion we will see each other all of the time."

"You're not listening to me Edward! I love my job. I'm not quitting. And you have so much responsibility with your family –"

"My love, we can work all of that out later." He pulled me down into his lap and kissed me again before I could stop him.

I pushed him away and stood, needing to put some distance in between us. "Some things cannot be worked out Edward."

I saw it click for him and his entire countenance changed. The vein above his right eye twitched and his nostrils flared.

"Last night you said yes. You said yes in front of five hundred people!"

He was not speaking, he was roaring.

This is what I had been waiting for. His anger and rage. I steadied myself, refusing to give into the fear.

"You gave me no choice!" I took two steps back. "Last night you made what _you_ want happen. You wanted to corner me because you knew I would have said no if it had been just the two of us."

He was running his hands through his hair and pacing now. I saw Emmett and Jasper hovering in the doorway just in case Edward decided to advance on me.

"Did you even see this ring?" He shook the box in the air. "Do you know how much money I spent on this for you?"

"I would have been happier with a ring from a gumball machine. You would know that if you ever stopped to really listen to how I feel about things."

"That conversation we had, you told me to prove it. Why, why did you say that?"

"Because I thought that maybe you would start talking _to_ me and not _at_ me. Don't you remember how we use to talk for hours? How we would bike to the beach and sit and read to each other. You use to bring me lunch and we would sit outside under the trees eating. The Edward I use to love would have come home when he heard something horrible had happened to me."

"So we're back to that? I didn't call? I didn't come running when you had your accident? I have a business to run and a family to support."

"Accident? Edward, it was much more than an accident. I was beat, bound and locked in a closet in a parking garage for five fucking days."

He waved it away as of it were nothing. I should not have been shocked or hurt that he would refer to it as simply an accident, like I had fallen off my bike and scraped my knee.

But the truth was, hearing him dismiss it not only cemented that what I was doing was right, it also made me nauseous that he could be so caviler with my life, any human life. My chest felt tight and for once I found my inhaler when I was looking for it.

"This is not over Isabella. I can tell that you are still upset about this whole accident situation. Let's just talk in a day or two."

Emmett stepped in at this.

"I'm afraid not Edward. Bella has already stated how she feels about this. This is what she wants, and I will support her. There is no need to discuss this any more."

"No need to discuss this? Did you happen to see the news this morning?" He asked, looking back and forth between Emmett and I. "It's all over TV and the Internet. This is not something that can be retracted on a whim."

"Then I guess you should have thought about that before you made us into a public spectacle," I said angrily. "Let me say it one more time. I. DO. NOT. WANT. TO. MARRY. YOU."

"You do _not_ want to go this route Isabella." He warned. "This is not over by a long shot." He turned on his heel and stormed out of the house.

* * *

"That's goal tending!" I yelled at Jasper.

He grinned at me. "It's only goal tending if it prevents a goal from being scored. Believe me, that shot was _not _going to go in."

Jasper and I were playing a game of basketball. Well, Jasper _was_ playing and I was _attempting _to play. I had never been very coordinated when it came to sports. Sure I knew all the rules of most professional sports, but knowing the rules and concepts of the games and actually playing were two different things.

Jasper had been on my case about not looking at the game from a scientific standpoint but to just have fun with _playing_ the game. Once I had stopped trying to figure out the angles, trajectory and force needed to shoot the ball I actually started to enjoy it. Now I just needed to stop spouting out the rules of the game every time I thought Jasper violated one.

He tossed me the ball and I dribbled a couple of times before shooting. It hit the rim and it bounced off. Jasper ran and caught the ball.

"Focus Bella. You were doing so much better two days ago." He chastised and threw me the ball again. Yeah, two days ago I wasn't engaged to Controlfreakward. "Look, it's not that bad."

"Not that bad? Easy for you to say, you're not shackled to him for another two months!" I threw the ball back to him.

The conversation Emmett and I had two days ago was on constant replay in my head. It was almost like a bad TV sitcom.

"_I just got off the phone with him __**again**__. He is right about one thing." Emmett said, coming to sit down beside me on one of the patio chairs. "You just can't retract this type of thing over night."_

"_I don't care about any of that. I just need him to realize that I'm not marrying him."_

"_He would like for you to give it some more thought."_

"_Why does it sound like you're pleading his case?"_

"_I'm not, believe me. There's no way in hell I want you around that scum, but I do think you owe him some consideration in all of this."_

_I narrowed my eyes at him. "What did you say to him?"_

"_He asked me to ask you to play the part for the next couple of months and then he would go public with the breakup. In those months he will not imply anything to the media about_ _your relationship but he will need you to attend several functions with him that have already been planned."_

"_What the fuck Emmett?" _

_I jumped off the chair I was sitting in, turning it over. Emmett caught me before I stepped off the edge of the patio and fell into the pool._

"_Calm down Bella, it's a reasonable request."_

"_Reasonable? Have you lost your mind?"_

_He righted the chair and forced me to sit down._

"_Listen, do you remember how the media camped out in front of the house when you came home from the hospital?"_

_I nodded. The paparazzi had set up tents on the edge of our property line like I was Paris Hilton fresh out of the slammer. Because of who my father was, a business tycoon with a billion dollar corporation, we had always been in and out of the media for as long as I could remember. It was Emmett's continued success with our father's legacy that just spurred the news reports on and when I had gone missing for those few days you would have thought that Martians had landed and had a wild orgy on our front lawn there were so many reporters._

"_And even now, nearly three months later some of them are still in front of the building when we get there in the morning. What do you think it will be like if tomorrow they find out that Edward Masen and Bella McCarty were engaged for __**forty-eight hours**__? Both of you will be run through the mud."_

"_I don't care –"_

"_Yes you do. At least two months will give you a little more credence that the relationship just didn't work out. A plain blanket statement that puts neither of you at blame for the breakup. Our board of directors will be satisfied and you won't be on every cover of every tabloid in the grocery store. You don't have to even see him until he picks you up for these functions."_

_I thought about it for a while. _

"_What if he tries something?"_

"_He won't, and Jasper will be there the whole time."_

Jasper stopped dribbling and sat down on top of the ball. He rolled the spare ball closer to him and indicated for me to sit down as well. It took me a second to get my balance right before he took my hands into his large ones and looked me in the eye.

"Do you trust me?"

I nodded and looked away.

"Look at me." He said softly. "Bella, please look at me."

I looked at him and stared into his topaz eyes. They seem to be liquid pools of honey in the dim lights of the patio. He smiled at me crookedly. His hair was sticking up everywhere and I had a sudden urge to run my fingers through his curls.

I swallowed hard when I took in the sight of him sitting in front of me without a shirt on, sweat glistening and seeming to sparkle in the moonlight. I quickly looked away, not wanting him to see me blush.

"You know I'm gonna be there, every step of the way." He touched my face and urged me to look at him. "Talk to me." He said softly.

I sighed. "I loved him a long time ago. But I realize now that I shouldn't have to wonder if Edward loves me. He says that he does, but I don't _feel_ it. I'm so alone even when I'm with him. I was trapped in that fucking closet for five days and he called me three times afterwards, and I saw him _once_. He should have been here. I would have come back for him. Why didn't he come back for me? Why am I not good enough for him?"

I didn't realize that I was crying until Jasper touched my face again. His touch felt electric and I nearly jumped. He hesitated, gagging my reaction to him before he pulled me into the warm circle of his arms, holding me like this was completely natural for us. It had been so long since I had felt comfortable being held by anyone but Emmett and even then it was tough sometimes. Jasper held me like we were old friends sharing an emotional memory.

"I don't want a bunch of babies." I sobbed, tugging on his metal dog tags that hung from around his neck. "I don't want to be lost in a mansion full of Masen women, poking at my womb and mixing herbal teas to help me conceive. I want to keep working and doing the things that I love."

He pulled back a little to look into my eyes. "Baby girl, you don't have to convince me what you want and don't want. And you have every right to be angry that he didn't come back after the mugging." He tucked the flyaway hair behind my ear, fingers lingering on my cheek. "You deserve more than a phone call. I would have come back. Hell, I would have never fuckin' left."

I stared into the depths of his eyes gauging the validity of his words. When Jasper was passionate about something his emotions spoke through his eyes, turning them a deep amber color, almost the shade of a fine whiskey. I was lost, hypnotized by the truthfulness of his statement.

His sweet breath caressed my cheeks and I was transfixed in time, staring at his full plump lips. I would have fallen off of my perch atop the basketball had Jasper's arms not been around me. He leaned closer to me, and my body acted on it's own and I leaned into him. I felt that electric spark again and I was desperate to see if it would happen again.

I think he felt it too. "Bella," he whispered my name against my lips, but just before they touched we were both jarred back to reality.

"Bella!"

I turned and looked over my shoulder.

"Edward?"

* * *

**A/N: Ummm, okay, so you like it? Don't like it? Would have made a different decision for Bella? Would have borrowed Roses' shiv and took Edward behind one of the tents? Like the semi-lemon? Didn't like it? Anybody up for some more Bella and Jasper time? Tell me what you liked and didn't like. **

**I see that a lot of people are reading but not a lot reviewing. Please, it helps with the creative juices.**

**Thanks for readin' ya'll!**

**Thanks again Cullen818!**


	6. Chapter 6

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 6**

**Thanks to Cullen818 for her mad beta skillz, even while she's sick! You go girl!**

**SM owns it!**

* * *

**BPOV**

"Edward, what are you doing here?"

Edward ignored the question. He was faster than I thought, one minute I was staring into Jasper's whiskey color eyes and what I thought would be our first kiss, and the next up into Edward's black angry ones as he towered over us both.

"So this is the real reason why you won't marry me? You would rather whore yourself out to this leech than to be with _me_?" Jasper made a move to stand between us but Edward caught him off guard in mid movement and shoved him backward. He stumbled and fell hard.

"Jasper!" I started to go after him but Edward reached down and yanked me off of my perch atop the basketball.

"I'm _not_ going to stand by and let that happen." His fingers locked around my bicep in a painful vice.

"Let me go Edward!" I tried twisting my arm out of his grasp the way Jasper had shown me in one of our self-defense lessons, but Edwards long fingers were wrapped around both of my arms now and he was not about to loosen his grip. "Jasper no!" I screamed in warning.

Jasper had now regained his footing, was up and about to charge Edward. He didn't see the two _Soldatos _(soldiers) step out of the shadows of the garage from behind him until they were upon him and had him locked between the two of them holding him back.

"Masen, get your fuckin' hands off of her!" Jasper yelled, trying to dislodge their hold on him. They both were a good six inches taller than Jasper and outweighed him by a decent amount. His struggling was doing no good.

"You were kissing him?" Edward demanded, dragging me off to the side away from Jasper. "Are you fuckin' him too?" He slightly shook me with each word.

"Edward please, it's not like that! Let me go!"

"Then tell me Isabella, how is it?" He asked, through clenched teeth. " I came here to talk to you, to fuckin' _beg_ you to listen to me and I walk up on him about to put his tongue down your throat? Are you tellin' me that I didn't see that?"

"We were just talking Edward. That's all." I said, trying to get free of his grip. No matter how bad I wanted that kiss to happen, what I told Edward was true, nothing had happened. I struggled against his grip. "Let me _go_!"

His grip loosened, but he did not take his hands away completely. "What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing is going on Edward." I said truthfully. "He's my body guard and that's all. Now tell them to let him go."

"I need to talk to you first, in private." He released his hold on me but would not step out of the way to let me go completely free.

"Then you shouldn't have brought them," I indicated to his guards, "to our home."

"_Our_ home?" He asked, looking over at Jasper.

He didn't like that one bit.

I sighed, hands on hips and faced Edward head on. "He is our friend and guest, so yes, _our_ home." He reached out to touch my arm but I stepped back avoiding him.

Edward sighed and turned slightly to bark and order to his guards. I couldn't understand what he said, his command was given in some crude Italian street lingo but they both dropped Jasper's arms and stepped back away from him. They turned and went back towards the front of the house where I guess they had parked. "Now will you talk to me?" He asked softly. "Alone." He added when Jasper approached.

"Bella?" Jasper asked, putting his body between Edward and me. He was mad and doing everything he could not to beat Edward down. Should he attack Edward, his _soldatos_ were still on the property and would no doubt maim or even kill Jasper immediately. We both had to tread lightly.

"I'm okay Jazz." I didn't want to talk to Edward in private or in public. There was nothing that he could ever say to make me change my mind about marrying him and I didn't want to lead him on and give him false hope. "No Edward. I said all that I needed to say to you yesterday." I crossed my arms and even in the fading evening light I could clearly make out his finger marks. "Please just leave."

He saw the angry red marks too. "Bella baby, I'm so sorry-"

I held up my hand. I didn't need or want his apology. "Edward just _go_." I turned then and went into the house leaving the two men staring at each other.

From the kitchen window I could see Edward and Jasper exchange what appeared to be a few heated words. Edward had his finger pointed in Jasper's face while Jasper stood there, hands on hips and faking a relaxed look. But I saw the muscles in his arms twitching and the tense set of his jaw belying his relaxed state. He was doing all that he could to not react to Edward with violence.

Then Jasper threw his head back and laughed. Edward apparently didn't like the fact that Jasper had laughed at whatever he said and took a step forward. Jasper made a shooing gesture to Edward, turned his head and spit on the ground and then walked away.

I would have to ask him later what all of that conversation was about. At the moment, I just wanted to shower and not think about Prickward but to definitely think about the kiss that Jasper and I had almost shared.

"I don't understand why was he so mad if you two were just playing basketball?" Emmett asked over the speakerphone. He had left that morning for a two-day conference in Georgia. Apparently Edward had wasted no time in calling Emmett after the little backyard stunt he had just pulled.

Jasper and I looked at each other from across the expanse of the desk. We had not discussed the almost kiss and so neither of us were prepared to answer Em's question.

Jasper shrugged. "Does he really need a reason to get mad?"

Emmett seemed to be thinking about that for a second. "I guess you've got a point. And he didn't hurt you, right Bells?"

Jasper and I looked at each other again and then I saw his eyes rest on my arms. The red marks were gone, replaced by a thumb-sized bruise on each bicep. I didn't want to lie to Emmett, our relationship was built on trust, but I also didn't want to put him in any type of danger over an incident that didn't turn out to be as bad as it could have been. Telling him about the barely there bruises on my arms would do no good in keeping the peace.

I thought about it for a few seconds more. I wasn't making excuses for Edward, I was just trying to keep my family whole and safe. "No, I'm fine. We're both fine." I said, which wasn't the untruth. Jasper and I both were alive and well. The _Soldatos_ had only restrained Jasper despite his struggling against them. The situation could have easily gone another route entirely.

"You _know_ that I am not on his side and I know that Edwards lack of attention to you when you needed him the most was fucked up; what he did tonight was wrong, but I'm trying to look at this objectively Bella." I could hear the frustration and weary in his voice. "Just talking to him tonight I could tell that he's highly emotional right now, the woman who he loves doesn't want him and he doesn't know how to handle that. He's lost you and he's trying to figure out a way to deal with all of that plus his new career choice."

That was a surprise to me; the only emotion that Edward ever really displayed up until now was well, none. He was always in control of his feelings and never got overly excited about any one thing in particular. Today was probably the second time I had ever really even seen him angry.

But I didn't care; it was too little too late.

"Am I suppose to end up dead before you stop defending him?"

"For the last time, I am _not_ defending him and I'm _not_ on his side." Emmett said sternly. "Jasper and Rose and I will all be there this weekend. After this it's just seven more weeks of this mess."

My first public event with Edward as his fiancé was a charity ball scheduled for the upcoming weekend.

Jasper sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it Bella, and as much as I would like to put a bullet through his cold heart, I think it may be best to just play this through."

"Oh great, now you're both on board the Edward train? What makes you two think that Edwards just going to back off after two months anyway? What if he decides that he's _never going to let me go_?"

"We're not going to let that happen." Jasper said definitively. "_I'm_ not going to let that happen." He pounded on the desk. "But he didn't bring those two guys here for his protection, he was sending a message. That he now has the power _and_ the means."

"Jasper's right Bella." Emmett said. "We don't have soldiers or made men on our payroll, I can't just go tell him to fuck off right now, so how we conduct ourselves around Edward has to give the _appearance_ of cooperating. If he tries _anything_ then _I_ _will handle it_, **not you**. Promise me Bells, that you will let me or Jasper handle this."

I hesitated.

"Bells." Emmett warned.

Jasper looked at me, expecting my cooperation. I sighed. "Okay, I promise."

"I mean it Bella, let me handle this. Whitlock, pick up the phone. Bells, I need to speak to Jasper for a second, I'll call you later, okay?"

**JPOV**

"Tell me man, did he hurt her?" Em asked me. I thought about the small bruises on Bella's biceps. Yes, he had hurt her, but no, it wasn't serious. What was serious was that between Em and myself we had enough going on with whoever was leaving death threats and trying to kill Bella that we didn't need to deal with a pissed of Edward too. It was easier to just cooperate with him for the moment.

Em was fiercely protective of Bella, and one wrong word from me and he would get himself killed defending her. And I didn't want to be the one to tell Bella that her big brother had died at Eddie boy's hands.

Before answering I got up and went to the door to make sure that Bella wasn't standing on the other side ear-hustling. The hallway was clear. "He pulled on her arms, she's okay though."

I could hear him swearing and pounding on whatever surface he was close to. After a few seconds he came back on the line. "And you?"

"I'm good man. They only held me back."

"Do I need to –."

"No." I said quickly, wanting to squash whatever notion of revenge that he may have had brewing. Like Emmett had said earlier, we may not have _soldatos_ or made men on our payroll, but none of that mattered when it came to Emmett and his baby sister. He was prepared to personally carve Edwards still beating heart out of his chest. "Nothing _really_ happened. We need to just keep our cool about it at the moment and play his game for now." I reminded him.

Em sighed heavily. "Listen, we need a few guys. Guys that can be trusted and are willing to do stuff for whatever price. I don't feel good about this Jazz."

I agreed; there was nothing good that could come out of this. "I know one or two guys, I can get a few more." I ran my fingers through my hair, scratching my scalp anxiously and debating whether or not I should tell him this over the phone. "Em, there was another letter."

He was silent for a minute. "What does it say?"

I pulled the little ziplock bag out of the locked desk drawer and read it to him.

**From all the rest I single out you, having a message for you,**

**You are to die –let others tell you what they please, I cannot**

**Prevaricate,**

**I am exact and merciless, but I hate you—there is not escape for you.**

"It's the first stanza of a Walt Whitman poem but in the last line they changed the words from 'I love you' to 'I hate you'."

"What do you think?"

"I don't think this is Edward if that's what you mean."

"Yeah, I would imagine he would have other means to send out threats. Plagiarizing poems isn't exactly his style." He sighed. "So at least we know that this guy is not in love with her."

"Maybe he is, but since she doesn't return his affections, then he's turned to hating her."

I could hear him drumming his fingers on something. "Or it could be a 'she'."

That stopped me and made me think. Bella was not one to keep a gaggle of girlfriends around her. Besides Rose and her secretary Charlotte, there were no other females that she hung out with or went shopping with or had lunch with. It was _possible_ that she had a jealous female stalker, but was it _probable_? I had no clue but it was definitely worth checking into.

"Anything is possible man. I'm gonna send this one to a guy I know and see if he can get a read for any evidence on it."

"Keep me posted."

We talked a few minutes more and then I hung up to go find Bella. We needed to have a little chat about the day's events.

I found her in the kitchen, sitting on top of the countertop, long beautiful legs crossed and eating peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. She had on a pair of tiny purple cotton shorts and a fuchsia color tee shirt with a bunny on it that said 'Cute but Psycho'. I mentally shook myself to stop looking at those legs.

"Why the hell are you eating it like that?"

She looked down at the jar and shrugged. "'Cause it's how I always eat it." She sighed. "Plus I'm too lazy to get the bread out of the pantry."

I chuckled at her admission and went to the pantry to get the bread. We had eaten hours earlier but I was staring to get hungry again. "How in the hell am I supposed to find the bread in all of this?"

"It's right there." She said, pointing and standing right behind me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when she spoke. The pantry, like every other room in the house, was entirely too big for the two people who permanently lived there. I had been caught up in looking over all of the shelves to notice that she had jumped off the countertop and had come to stand behind me.

She giggled at my discomfort but it was nice to hear given the evening she had just had. I looked at her and it suddenly hit me that she was standing in my dream from just the other night.

"Jazz, Jazz? Are you okay?" She waved her hand in my face.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I – I'm good." I stuttered.

"Get the bread."

"Sure, sure." I snatched the loaf off the shelf. I needed to get the hell out of that pantry.

"You want jelly?"

Bella scrunched her face up and stuck out her tongue. "Yuck. No way, I hate jelly."

She looked so cute I wanted to spread jelly all over her and lick it off. _Okay, focus Whitlock._ "You hate jelly? Why?"

"Have you _seen_ jelly? Fruit should not shake like that. It's all congealed and junk. No way, it's gross."

"Have you ever tried it?" I asked, spreading the congealed fruit on a piece of bread.

She nodded. "Em made me when I was little. After I barfed it all over his shoes he never made me eat it again."

"You threw up on his shoes?"

"Yup, all over his new Nike's. He had this thing about not letting me say I hated certain foods without me tryin' em first. Hey, don't mix it!"

I looked down at where she was pointing. I had almost dipped the jelly covered knife into the peanut butter jar. "Oh, sorry." I accepted the clean knife she handed me and finished up both of our sandwiches.

"Chocolate milk?" She asked, holding up the box of Nestle's Quik chocolate mix and the carton of milk.

"Mmm, yes please."

She made two tall glasses of chocolate milk while I cut the crust off of her bread. I had seen her pinch and peel the crust off enough times at breakfast to know to just do it and save her the step.

Bella handed me the glass of milk and hopped back up on the countertop. She scooted over and made room for me. We both ate in silence for a while, occasionally the only sound coming from Bella blowing bubbles into her milk with her straw. I loved how carefree she could be at times.

I debated on how to broach the topic of our almost kiss. I didn't want to put her on the spot but I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings, mixed up emotions or feelings either. And I knew enough about Bella to know that she wouldn't want a long drawn out conversation that may or may not embarrass her either. "Hey B?"

"Yeah?"

"We're cool right?"

She grinned and sucked the bubbles down with her straw. "As a cucumber."

And that was the end of that discussion.

**BPOV**

I was not thrilled about spending any time at all with Edward, but we had an agreement and I didn't want to put Emmett or anyone else in potential danger for not living up to my end of things with him.

I took a deep breath, I could do anything for sixty days.

Sixty days. Sixty days and it would all be over. But it was the first day back at work after the disastrous engagement party and Edward was already driving me crazy.

He had called the house four times and emailed me twice before I had even a chance to eat breakfast. He wanted to make sure that I had all the information necessary for the weekend and to remember to wear the midnight blue dress. I kindly reminded him that it was just Tuesday –as I had taken Monday off to avoid the press that was surely camped out in front of the building -and that there was plenty of time to prepare for an event on Sunday. He kept insisting that we have lunch and I kept reminding him that it wasn't part of our deal.

After about the fifth refusal he stopped asking.

Emmett had been right about the reporters. They were waiting for us outside of the building and because I refused to be dropped off in the parking deck Jasper rushed with me from the car to the safety of the lobby where Felix would not let them congregate. Apparently Jasper had called ahead and had a clear elevator waiting for me when we arrived.

When I finally got to the thirty-second floor I was greeted by an office and lab full of roses. Edward must have contacted every florist within a ten-block radius, because every available horizontal space was occupied with a vase.

When I refused to answer his calls on my cell phone he sent me four text messages saying that he had sent the flowers to apologize for the way he acted the previous evening and he asked would I please not be offended by his overly public display of affection with the roses. In the four years that we dated I often mentioned how calla lilies, tulips and dahlia's were my favorite flowers, yet he always sent roses.

I had Charlotte my secretary send them all to the local hospitals and funeral homes in the area under the guise that the scent was affecting my breathing and my allergies were starting to flare up. I wanted no part of his damn roses.

It was inevitable that someone would ask me where my ring was and after being cornered the first time about it and what were our wedding plans I started avoiding every small group of people that I saw talking. They had all seen the ring on the Internet and now wanted to see it close up. I told them that it was being sized and that it wouldn't fit under my latex gloves in the lab anyway. This seemed to appease them for the moment, but I knew that it wouldn't be long before I had to come up with something else.

For lunch I didn't want to deal with the reporters so I ordered from a local sandwich shop. When the delivery guy asked me where my ring was I thought I was going to loose my shit. Jasper quickly paid him and escorted him out before I assaulted the kid with my foot long sub sandwich.

I met with different party planners in order to start getting the gala preparations under way. Of the four that I met with they all plugged for their services in helping me plan the perfect society wedding. I kindly thanked them for their offers to set up portfolios of ideas for me and told them that I wanted to plan one event at a time.

By the time Friday evening rolled around I threatened Emmett that I was going to take the next seven weeks off from work and hide out at home. He simply stated that seven weeks wasn't a long time to endure a bit of uncomfortableness to get what I wanted.

I kindly told him that he and his new buddy Edward could go straight to hell. Later on that night I apologized to Emmett. I was frustrated that my life seemed to not be my own any more and that I was tried of living in fear and having to bend to someone else's will even if it were for a few weeks.

Emmett of course understood and that made me feel even worse, the fact that he was so caring and let me act like a bitch to him when he definitely didn't deserve it. He spent the rest of the evening with me eating ice cream and trying to cheer me up.

I don't know when it was or what it was that made me decide to seduce Jasper. It was sometime between when we had nearly kissed that night playing basketball, which we still hadn't _really_ discussed and in a way I was glad that we hadn't, and when I saw him standing with Edward's sister Tanya at the bar. Awkward much!

Tanya was a notorious slut and freak. She would fuck anything on two legs and at the moment she had her hands all over my Jasper.

_Yeah I fuckin' said it, he's mine. And that bitch is going down!_

It made me sick to the point of wanting to vomit, and I had to fight the urge to scratch her eyes out. The bad part about it was that I could do nothing about it. I was publicly engaged to Edward and to scratch another woman's eyes out over a man who was not technically mine would not look good in the press or to the little old ladies over the charity ball no matter how great it would make me feel.

In any event I couldn't do anything about it right then anyway, Edward had his arm around my waist like a steel bar, he moved when I did and for two hours had not left my side. He was showing off me, his big diamond engagement ring and trying to keep me away from Jasper at the same time.

I took some comfort in the fact that Jasper was obviously trying to get away from _Skankya._ Whenever she would let her hands linger on his arm he would move so that they would fall off. Or when she would laugh and touch his chest he would step back away from her. Even when he disappeared to the men's room and came back he walked the opposite way from her approach.

I was watching them out of my periphery, plotting her demise and not paying attention at all to what Edward was saying to the couple next to us when I felt his lips on my neck. That snapped me back to reality and I pushed him away. He anticipated my move and caught my arms at the elbow pulling me toward him. I fell into his chest and his arm trapped me against his body. I could feel his erection pressing into my stomach and I recoiled at his blatant arousal.

"What the hell Edward?"

"Look, if we're going to do this it has to be believable." He nuzzled my neck. "People are watching."

He turned me slightly so that I could see several small groups of people including a few reporters indeed watching us and smiling at the "happy" couple. I didn't care, I did not want him this close, grinding into me.

"Please love," he whispered into my ear. "This is expected of us."

I pulled back intending on telling him to go to hell but he put his mouth over mine instead, silencing my words. One hand was holding me to him and the other came up behind my head to hold me into place.

My arms were trapped between our bodies and my struggles to extract him were futile. I realized that there was no way to get him off of me, so I shut down, refusing to move my lips against his. He finally got the picture and slightly released his hold on me. I pushed him away, stepping out of his grasp.

"Touch me like that again and I don't care who is watching, I will publicly end this shit right away."

Before I could escape from him he caught me around the waist and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Look Isabella, we have an agreement. I would hate for something to happen to either one of your family members simply because you don't play your part in this well enough. Now you'd better get your shit together and smile like a fuckin' Academy Award winning actress for seven more weeks because if you embarrass me over something like this then you won't even recognize the bodies when you're called to identify them."

The one positive thing about Edward was that he was always the perfect gentleman. In the past he had never raised his voice at me or said anything out of the way towards me, so hearing him now, voice laced with venom, woke me up.

I looked up at him and shuttered a little. It was apparent that his personality was transforming to meet his new role. This was the new Edward, Crime Boss Edward. This was the Edward that you didn't want to fuck with.

The vein above his right eye twitched and his jaw was set in stone. He was dead fucking serious and there was no way that I was willing to put Emmett, Rose or Jasper's life in danger just because I didn't want to attend a few functions with Edward or I didn't want him to touch me.

The reason I was in all of this mess anyways was because I was too chicken shit to stand up to Edward in the first place. I dug this hole for myself and I had to be the one to get us all out of it.

"Do we have an understanding?" He asked, voice still cold and with a little touch of evil.

I nodded.

"Say it Isabella. Let me _hear_ what you're agreeing to."

I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. As bad as I hated to given in, my survival, our survival, depended on it. "I will play my part in this for seven more weeks."

"And?"

"And it will be believable." I looked down at my hands willing the tears away.

"Good girl." He kissed my forehead. "One more thing Isabella, this conversation is between you and me. M'kay?"

Edward knew that Emmett would go to the ends of the earth to protect me, and now he knew that Jasper felt the same way. Neither one, should they find out that he was threatening me, would take it lightly. He was warning me that he didn't _want_ to kill my brother or my brother's best friend should they find out that he had issued me a threat, but he _would_. It all rested on my silence and continued cooperation.

If they were doing all that they could to keep me safe, then surly I could do the same, right? I nodded.

He squeezed my arm. "Words Isabella, I want you to _say_ it." He said through clenched teeth.

"They won't know. I promise." I choked out.

"Wonderful." He kissed me again, this time I was more agreeable and fake smiled up at him when he let me go. "Perfect, that was perfect. Now go fix your face, there are people we still have to mingle with."

He gave me a little push in the direction of the restrooms where Emmett caught up with me coming out of them a few minutes later.

"What the hell was that all about?" He asked.

I waved it off. Around my family I still needed to act like Edward hadn't just threatened all of them. "Nothing, a public assault of affection." I joked lightly.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Can we get out of here?" He asked. Emmett hated being in a tuxedo and I knew that he was uncomfortable and wanting to get out of his confining clothes.

"Sure," Edward said, coming up behind me and placing an arm around my waist. "I'll make sure Bells gets home." He kissed my cheek.

I turned and smiled at him tightly. Emmett raised an eyebrow at this but thankfully said nothing.

"No, we'll stay." Emmett said, eyeing us suspiciously.

I spent another couple of painful hours by Edward's side smiling and talking at all the right moments. He seemed to be pleased by my performance and thankfully didn't press me to kiss him too much after that.

Emmett found us later standing by the bar and made it clear that we were going home. He had called Tyler to bring the car around and sent me off to get my things. I was only too glad that he had stepped in and took over.

I collected my wrap from the coatroom and Edward escorted me outside to wait while Emmett bid goodbye to a few of our board of directors. Several men that Emmett did business with and their wives were also waiting for their cars where I was immediately caught up in a conversation about one of my latest projects that had been featured in Popular Science magazine.

And then I heard what sounded like firecrackers going off, which I later realized were gunshots, and I felt more than saw Jasper running toward me. He tackled me and we went tumbling across the sidewalk on the red carpet. People were screaming and the front of the hotel erupted into chaos.

* * *

**A/N: So, do you think anyone was hurt? Who? Let me know what you liked and didn't like.**

**Before I started writing fanfiction I was a reader and not really a reviewer. I cannot tell you how much it helps the creative juices to continue to flow when a writer receives a review. So please, review. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**BPOV**

Thanks for beta'ing Cullen818!

Rmember: SM owns it!

* * *

Jasper lay over me for what seemed like forever as bullets riddled the front of the hotel. He knew that I couldn't breathe, but I knew that he couldn't move an inch or we both might be dead. I heard him whispering to me to hold on and to not be scared. The whole time someone was shooting at us he was trying to calm me down. I wanted to laugh at how hysterical all of that was.

Car tires squealed and the shooting stopped. There was dead eerie silence all around and then the sound of glass breaking and falling and women weeping and screaming. He shifted on top of me and we both saw red all across the front of his white tuxedo shirt.

"Don't move, where did it hit you?" He asked frantically.

His hands were forcing me back to the concrete as I was trying to get up. He had his cell phone out and was shouting at Emmett where we were. It was then that I saw the source of blood and I think he saw at the same time. The phone fell to the sidewalk as he rolled off of me to the side.

Large chucks of glass had fallen from above and speared his left arm and shoulder, cutting the jacket to ribbons. With his movements over me the glass had gone deeper into his flesh and his blood had covered the both of us. I heard sirens in the distance but knew with the amount of blood that he had lost that I had to act quickly.

By the time I managed to rip the sleeve material of his jacket upward Emmett was beside me, helping to shift Jasper fully onto his back. It was then that I noticed that not only had the glass ripped through his bicep and shoulder, but that there was an entry and exit wound of a bullet as well.

Emmett gripped my hand and mouthed to me that Jasper was going to be okay at the same time that Jasper kept murmuring that he was fine. I fought the battle to not freak out at how pale he was and how much blood there was. I ripped the bottom of my dress and we tied it above the wound. Emmett wanted to remove the glass but I stopped him, saying that it would definitely cause more bleeding.

Rose was performing similar ministrations to a couple ten feet from us. She was covered in the blood of the man that I had been speaking with about my project. His wife was silently weeping and rocking herself over his now dead body. He had taken a bullet to the head and then the back in protecting her. I assured Emmett that we were fine and he went to help Rose console the woman.

Edward, who had been beside me when the shooting started and then lost in the mayhem, found me as the ambulance arrived, and pulled me into his arms. I didn't resist because with the amount of carnage around we all needed a bit of comfort. I did however put up a fight when he tried to prevent me from going to the hospital with Jasper.

"You need to go home, not go running off like some fucking Florence Nightingale."

"He is hurt because he was protecting _me,_ Edward."

"If I'm not mistaken, that is his _job_. I'm taking you home now."

"You're not –"

"Bella," Emmett found us and pulled me into his arms hugging me. He pulled back a little to look at me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"C'mon, let's get out of here. Edward, see you later." He said tightly, taking my hand and pulling me away, not bothering to listen to Edwards protests.

Emmett pulled me over to where Jasper was strapped to a gurney and a paramedic was doing his best to staunch the bleeding but it was still running freely from the wounds.

"What's taking so long? Shouldn't they have taken him already?"

"Calm down Bells, I'm not dying tonight." He smiled at me lopsided and grimaced at the same time.

"We're going, any riders?" The paramedic asked.

"No, we will follow," Emmett answered the medic and turned to me. "We have to talk to the police first. By the time we finish he should be ready to go home."

"You know something, what is it?" I asked Emmett, as Tyler followed the police through the busy city streets to the precinct.

He looked at me, debating if he should tell me or not. "I don't know Bella, we may be wrong, I hope to God we are wrong, but something about the way Edward wanted you to wear that damn midnight blue dress, it's like he knew this was going to happen."

It took a few seconds for me to register what he said. "You think Edward is trying to kill me? That's crazy, he was standing right next to me, wasn't he?" I asked, because things had happened so fast after I was tackled by Jasper that I wasn't really sure what had went on right up to that point.

He nodded. "_I don't know_. None of it makes any sense. Maybe he just wanted to scare you."

He has no idea how much Edward is scaring me, I thought. "A man died tonight and it could be because of me?"

He draped an arm around me. "Don't think like that. Listen, we have no proof that Edward was involved or that you were even the target. Hell, he was standing almost next to you when the shooting started. It's possible that someone is trying to kill him, to finish him off before he gets into his new role. When you talk to the police you need to act like we didn't speak about this. Either of you." He looked over at Rose. She nodded and squeezed my other hand. "We don't need to be pointing fingers and getting ourselves mixed up in a he said she said battle when we have no proof."

"But I still have to be around him. I have _seven more weeks_ where I'll have to be around him."

"Just calm down Bells, we'll figure something out. Any one of those people could have been a target – that place was packed with high profile people. When you talk to the police just give them straight short answers. Don't embellish and if you don't know something, tell them."

We answered questions for nearly two hours. I suspected that it would have continued if I hadn't fiend exhaustion and a mild asthma attack. Which really wasn't far from the truth, but I was just more anxious to get to the hospital to make sure Jasper was okay. As we were leaving the police station I saw Edward still talking to the detectives. He tried to break away from them and come to me but they refused to let him leave.

Jasper was sleeping when we arrived at the hospital. The doctor's were urging him to stay the night but once awake Jasper was determined to get out of there. Fortunately the bullet hit no major arteries or organs. It was a clean shot through the top of his shoulder not even hitting bone and it would heal fairly quickly. We were given instructions on how to clean and dress the wound and medicine for pain and antibiotics to fight possible infection. Emmett walked with him supporting his weight on one side and we bundled him into the car and took him home.

**JPOV**

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that something was about to go down but I had no idea what. My first instinct was to find Bella. She seemed to always find trouble before she knew what she was walking into.

I quickly surveyed the room looking for that damn midnight blue dress. It was almost like Edward knew no one else would be wearing that color and that's why he insisted she wear it. That thought had me near running to find her.

I had seen that bastard Edward by the bar talking to his skank of a sister Tanya. Emmett caught my eye and I motioned to him that I was looking for Bella. He understood what I was asking and pointed toward the coatroom.

I took off in that direction, nearly falling over a rich little old lady on a cane. She reprimanded me but I managed to get away from her before she whacked me with it.

Growing up in the hood had its advantages. One of them being that you automatically knew that the distant sound of squealing tires meant you needed to get your ass to the ground before it was too late. I knew that Bella would have never heard the squealing tires or recognized what it meant.

It was a good thing she had been dragging my ass out of bed for the last couple of weeks to go running, because tonight it paid off. I knew the moment she felt me in her close proximity. Her body turned slightly toward me, like magnets attracting each other. I hated the fact that she would be bruised in the morning from me tackling her like she was some grown ass linebacker, but I also knew she would at least live for another day.

I covered her small body as the bullets whizzed past our heads. I knew that I was too heavy on top of her and I knew that she couldn't breathe. I kept praying that one, the assault would be over fast so that I could let her up, two, that no one got hit and three, that she would stop wiggling like that because she was starting to turn me on and this was not the place to have to deal with a hard on. What can I say, my dick thinks for itself sometimes.

She was clinging to me like a baby monkey latched on to its mother's tits. Her little hands were fisted in my shirt and she was shaking trying to breathe. The bullets stopped and there was dead silence for about thirty seconds. Nothing but the sound of glass breaking and falling.

I managed to get my phone out and call Emmett, telling him where we were and then Bella was screaming in my ear. I saw the blood on her dress and was forcing her to lie still. If she had been hit she needed to lie still so that the bullet wouldn't shift up against something important and kill her immediately.

And then I felt this dizzy sensation come over me. She was screaming that she wasn't hit; it was my blood. I was the one bleeding. We both saw the large jagged pieces of glass sticking up out of my arm and at the same moment and my shoulder was on fire. That shit hurt like hell.

Bella was over me in an instant, ripping my tux jacket away from the glass embedded in my arm and tying a piece of her dress around the top of my arm as a tourniquet. From the look of her dress and my shirt I had lost a shit load of blood and I was starting to feel it. I tried sitting up, but she pushed me back down with her little hands and practically sat on my chest to keep me still.

I smiled at her and she touched my cheek. Big fat tears rolled down her cheeks and with my uninjured hand I reached up to touch them.

"It's okay B, it's just a little flesh wound."

Her panic subsided just a little and by looking into her eyes I knew that something else was wrong. I had sensed it earlier when I saw Edward whispering into her ear and I saw it now as she was comforting me and waiting with me for medical attention. She was terrified by something other than the usual hell that her life had come to be and I needed to know what it was.

Emmett was there then, helping her hold me still and talking to Rose who was about ten feet away consoling the woman who had just lost her husband. Emmett went over to Rose to help her and then I saw Edward.

I did not like the way he was looking at Bella, like he was mad that she was touching me. Like he would have 'dealt' with her had they been alone. But she wasn't, Em was there, hell I was there, and even in my semi-immobile state I could still shoot the motherfucker if he tried something. I forced my mind away from the scene in my head and concentrated on pushing the pain away.

The ambulance arrived and the last thing I remember was talking to Emmett and saying how the midnight blue dress sure stood out, almost like someone had wanted it to.

**BPOV**

The events of the night before came back to me in a rush. I sat up in bed trying to clam my nerves before I went to check on Jasper. I told Emmett that it would be easier to care for him if he were in the main house, not out back in the pool house. So we put him on the elevator and brought him up to the third floor. He was now asleep in the next bedroom.

I had showered the night before to get rid of all of the blood and fell asleep with wet hair, which was now sticking up in every direction. The curls were tangled and it took me rewetting my hair to get them out. My eyes were swollen and puffy so I didn't even bother about my contacts and just kept my glasses on.

I knew by the way he was breathing that he wasn't sleep. His head popped up as I made my way over to the king sized four-poster bed and he tried sitting up.

"Hi."

"Hi." He grinned at me.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

I helped him somewhat sit up, propping him up on a mound of pillows, careful of his arm that was secured against his abdomen so as to be completely immobile and climbed up on the bed beside him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

"Really?"

"No, this shit hurts like hell."

"Yeah, thirty two stitches and a bullet wound will do that to you."

"How are you feelin'?"

I shrugged. "I'm good."

We were silent for a moment. "Bells, we need to talk about last night."

I shook my head. "Not right now."

"But-"

"Hungry?" I asked changing the subject.

He sighed, staring at me. Jasper was never one to push me to talk; he knew that I would broach the subject in my own due time. "A little. I think I'm gonna shower first."

"Do you need help?" The moment it came out I realized what I had said. "I mean, I could get Emmett-"

"Uh, no thanks. I haven't had another man see my man parts since I was like five."

I blushed, thinking about his man parts. "Well, I'll go make you something to eat and bring it up, okay?"

"Sure, sure."

He threw the covers back and I had to force my eyes away from his perfectly sculptured body. The only thing between him and the Lord was a pair of hung low basketball shorts and a set of dangling dog tags. Although it was no less than I had seen him wearing when swimming or when we played basketball, I had never pictured him lying in bed until now. Even when we had gotten home the night before Emmett was the one who had helped him to his new room.

He had a set of perfect pectorals that had the palms of my hands itching to touch. Damned if my glasses weren't fogging up. I took then off and wiped the lenses on the bottom of my shirt, blushing at the six-pack that seemed to stare back at me.

I got up to help him stand up, but I guess the medicine along with the amount of blood that he lost still had him dizzy. He fell back onto the bed trapping me under him. Being smashed under a sexy man really isn't a bad thing. I breathed in his scent, and even with the slight tang of dried blood he smelled amazing, like fresh linen and man.

"Bella."

"Yes?"

"Please stop wiggling."

"Oh, sorry, am I hurting your shoulder?"

"Uh, yeah, the shoulder." His voice sounded tight and strained. "Ok, just let me get my feet under me. Maybe the shower can wait a few hours."

He managed to roll over onto his good side with a grunt and I got his legs back under the blankets. His eyes were closed and I knew he was fighting the dizziness. I propped him up again and promised to bring him food.

Emmett was in the kitchen when I got downstairs. Apparently he had the same thought as I did because he had already started chopping the vegetables for the omelets. Rose came into the kitchen next. She always had the distinct ability to take a tragedy, compartmentalize it and deal with it accordingly. She grabbed a cup of coffee and left for her studio with the promise to see us later that day. Her therapy was through her art. Some of her most impressive pieces were done when she was going through rough moments in her life.

"We need to talk." Emmett said, assembling his own plate of food.

I gave him the same answer as I gave Jasper. "Not right now."

Emmett was never one to take no for an answer. "You need to stop bottling up how you're feeling Bells. This is not-"

"I'm not talking about it now Emmett. End of discussion."

He sighed and stared at me for a few seconds before turning back to the cutting board. I turned away from him and made a few phone calls into work letting them know that I would not be in for the next few days and that I would be answering my phone and email as necessary. Emmett did like wise and after finishing the food he went to his office to work. Edward called wanting to come over to see me. I assured him that I was okay and that I was just going to sleep the rest of the day.

Being that I was never home during the day the house felt strangely quite as I took the tray of food up to Jasper. He was in the same position snoring softly. I didn't want to wake him, but I knew he needed to take his medicine with food. His eyes blinked open when I sat the tray down on the nightstand.

"Hi."

"Hey." He scrubbed his face with his uninjured hand.

"I got you an omelet, bacon, French toast and orange juice."

I helped him sit up and placed the tray over his lap on the bed. As I turned to go he called me back.

"Um, I guess you got a lot of work to do?"

"Yeah, a little. Do you need something?"

He hesitated for a moment, almost like he was afraid to ask. "Can you stay with me for a while? I'll be quite while you work."

I killed the grin that was starting to form, knowing that I was about to set phase one of my plans of seduction in motion. "Yeah, just let me get my laptop."

**JPOV**

If every morning I could wake up seeing a sexy woman standing at my bedside with a tray of food and her nipples winking at me through a tank top I would gladly give my left arm to whatever left arm taking god demanded it. If I could get that same sexy woman to sit her sweet little ass in my lap and let me suck on those winking nipples I would sell my soul to the devil.

I felt like a fucking hormonal teenager asking her to stay and talk to me for while. I needed sleep and God knows I didn't need her sitting beside me in bed with her hair piled up on top of her head like that wearing those damn sexy glasses, but I couldn't help myself. I needed another peek at those winking nipples.

She came back and crawled her sweet little ass up into the bed beside me and worked while I wolfed down the breakfast. Sexy and a good cook. I was in heaven and I was going straight to hell when I thought about what I could do with that bottle of syrup and those nipples. I coughed and she pounded on my back with her little hands, making her tits jiggle. I nearly jizzed in my shorts when I saw those puppies bouncing up and down. I mean, there they _were_, just teasing me. So close and yet so fuckin' far away.

When I finished with the food she took the tray away and crawled her sweet little ass back up into the bed beside me. I turned the TV on, making sure to keep the volume low while she worked. We chatted for a while and I asked her to help me turn a little so that I could see the TV better. I really wanted to see those glorious tits better, committing their shape and the way they moved to my masturbating repertoire.

"So how do you know Rose?" I asked trying to will my mind and body from reacting to her nipples. Bella and I had had many conversations before, but I realized that I knew almost nothing about parts of her childhood.

She smiled making her lone dimple stand out. It was in her right cheek and it made me wonder if she had another dimple much lower. I had to shake my head to clear the thought so that I could concentrate on what she was saying.

"In the third grade I was horribly shy and I stuttered very badly when speaking English. My Father would only allow us to speak Italian at home so I didn't have many friends until one day this new girl transferred to our school. The kids made fun of her because she wasn't like us."

"What do you mean?"

"She wasn't born here, in Greenwich. Her foster parents didn't have the money that the rest of us did. One day I was having a horrible time with my English assignment. We had to recite a Robert Frost poem or something and I kept stumbling over the words. I guess I don't have to tell you how mean the other kids were to me.

"They teased and picked on me all day and right before we were to go home Lauren Mallory cornered me and was about to pound my face in when this little girl with spiky blonde pigtails jumped in front of me and beat Lauren to the ground. She came home with me that day and never really went home again. She spent almost every afternoon after school here and almost every weekend she slept over here or I was at her house. Her foster parents worked manual jobs and they could not afford childcare, so Emmett and Angela's mother watched us. I don't know if you've noticed, but she has her own room here, plus a closet full of clothes. I don't even know why she keeps an apartment in the city, she's here most nights anyway."

I nodded, I had indeed noticed that, plus a lot more that I was sure Bella wasn't aware of yet. "She helped you get over your stuttering?"

She nodded. "She couldn't speak Italian, so I became more comfortable speaking in English."

I thought for a minute. "So why did you become a scientist?"

She smiled again and I had to stop myself from touching that damn dimple.

"The very day after Rose came home with me that first time, we stole Emmett's old chemistry set and snuck out to the tool shed. We were mixing all kinds of chemicals and just junk together. When it started bubbling up I knew we were in trouble. Our concoction blew the back of the shed up. I was more interested in what made it blow up and Rose was more interested in the colors and patterns it made on what was left of the shed wall. So she became an artist, and I became a scientist."

"Did you get in trouble?"

Her face scrunched up remembering. "It was the worst spanking Emmett ever gave us." She laughed and I think my heart skipped a beat. "So what's your story? You were in the army?" She asked fingering my dog tags. The heat from her little finger blazed a heated trail across my skin that had me near hissing.

"The Army Reserves. Hmmm, let me see. There's not much to tell, my life's been pretty boring. You know I went to UCONN with Em and majored in Criminal Justice. That's about it."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "There's always more to the story. How did you get into your line of work?"

I thought for a minute. "I was working as a bouncer at a club my senior year and I was debating on whether or not to go to law school right away or to get a job and go to law school later. One night I broke up this bar fight between two opposing fraternities and there was this guy, Caius, who approached me later. He said that with my fighting skills he wanted to hire me for a week to escort his daughter to Los Angeles. He was a diplomat and he was concerned for her safety when out of his eyesight.

"He paid me two grand and I got to see California. When we returned he suggested that I join his security detail. I thought about it for a while but I turned it down. I wanted to finish school first. He said that he admired that about me, wanting to finish what I had started. So for my last year of school he would hire me out if he or his family were in town.

"After graduation he introduced me to some ex FBI officers and secret service guys that taught me everything I know. A little more than a year later I started my own personal security business. See, not all that exciting."

"And you went to war?"

I nodded. "A year and a half in the dessert fighting for our country."

"I'm glad you made it back safely."

"Me too." I yawned.

"You should sleep."

I yawned again. "Can you stay a while, just until I'm sleep?" I asked her. I hated sounding all weak and helpless, but there was something about her sitting beside me, looking at me with those big Hersey kiss eyes that didn't want to let her go. It was almost as if something were pulling her to me and I feared that the cord between us would be severed should she get up to leave.

She touched my face with her tiny hand. "I won't leave."

I smiled, thinking of syrup, two little girls blowing shit up and her nipples as I drifted off to sleep.

**BPOV**

I knew that he was looking at my breasts, so when I went to get my laptop and workbag I made sure to pull the cami tank top down a half an inch. There was no need to make a sick man strain himself to see them, right?

I also changed my underwear in lighting speed, knowing that he was looking at my ass and I didn't want him seeing the outline of the granny panties that I had slept in after my shower the night before.

I had never seduced anyone before, but I had seen Rose in action often enough to know how to flirt and wiggle my ass. There was a fine line between wiggling and shaking. Shaking would come later if I played my cards right today.

He turned on the TV and kept the volume low while I worked, watching mostly CNN and ESPN. We chatted about a few of the news stories and some of the teams he liked. Before he drifted off to sleep I turned slightly, giving him a better view down the front of my shirt. He was smiling and I made a mental check mark on my seduction task list.

"Bella, Bella. Wake up Bells."

I woke up with a start feeling lost and scared. It took me a minute to realize where in the house I was and why. Jasper was shaking me awake because somehow we had managed, while sleep, to wrap ourselves around each other.

"You're safe now. No one's gonna hurt you." He said softly, holding me to his chest with his good arm while I cried. "Tell me what's wrong." He stoked my hair, giving me time to formulate the words.

"Just a bad dream." I whispered, not sure of my voice.

In actuality it was a night terror. In my dream I had been running from a masked man with a knife. Jasper had managed to wake me just as the killer was about to attack.

"You're safe with me. You know that, right?" I nodded into his chest. "Hey look at me."

I was afraid to look up at him, scared that he would see what I mess I truly was and leave because of all of my complications. Sensing my hesitation he cupped my chin with his fingers and turned my face up to his. "You don't have to be afraid." He ran his fingers through my hair, resting at the base of my neck. "I'm not leaving you." He said as if he had read my mind.

It was all so simple, and yet at the same time it wasn't. Thoughts from the almost kiss on the basketball court replayed in my head and I knew he was thinking of it too. We stared at one another; eyes mutually scanning the others face for permission. There was no clear indication of who initiated the kiss. Later on I would think back over the situation and remember feeling a tug of sorts, like some unknown force was pushing or pulling us together.

His lips were soft against mine, controlling and yet letting me set the pace at the same moment. My fingers curled in his hair and I pulled myself upward so that he needn't strain his neck to reach me as I positioned myself half on top of his chest, careful of his injuries, legs hooked around each other.

His hands ran up and down my back, resting right at the junction of my hip and left ass cheek. I broke away, moaning a little before his mouth came up to meet mine again. I wanted his hand on my ass, so I shifted again, eliciting a sharp hiss from him. If what I was feeling what I thought that I was feeling against my thigh, then Rose had been right: Walkin' Tall was packing a _big_ stick.

His tongue swirled against my own, causing my head to spin. I pulled back a little for air, sucking on his bottom lip and nibbling it. His hand went lower, _finally_ settling on one ass cheek, cupping it and pulling me closer to him. I groaned at the friction the movement created where I needed it the most.

"Jasper…" I panted against his lips, our breaths mixing together and creating a sexual haze around us. This was _so_ not apart of my initial seduction plan. In fact I had not strategized past the first kiss phase and here we were about to dry hump each other. I needed just a second for my mind to catch up to what my body was doing.

"Bella we-"

The door opened.

"Emmett?"

* * *

**A/N: Ok, I know a lot of you wanted a bullet to get Edward and that didn't happen. I promise that he serves a purpose to the story and that he will not keep Jasper and Bella apart. Please please hang in there with me. And yes, Emmett is a cock blocker but can you really say that it's time for J &B to be gettin' busy? I mean, they're still bonding right? Let me know what you're thinking. I appreciate all of your thoughts and the time you take in telling me.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Thanks Cullen818 for beta'ing this hot mess!**

**Remember: SM owns it!**

* * *

**BPOV**

I've been a scientist for most of my life. The first thing they teach you in any science class is the scientific method. The first step is to ask questions. I asked myself why I wanted to seduce Jasper and part of the answer I had come up with was because not only was he the sexiest man I had ever met, but he made me feel wanted and he didn't smother me or try to mold me into something I wasn't.

The second step is to do your background research. Jasper and I had spent many occasions laughing and talking together, just getting to know one another and I liked what I had learned. This wasn't purely physical.

The third step is to construct a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess at how things work. _"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen."_ So why is it that someone with two fucking PhD's can't seem to get past the third step of something I learned when I was eight years old?

In my seduction plan I never factored in one simple, not so tiny detail. Emmett.

While Emmett usually didn't interfere in my social life I knew that there was no way in hell that he would just sit by the wayside and be okay with me getting it on with his best friend. I never stopped to hypothesize _"If I fuck Jasper, then Emmett will kick his ass."_

It really wasn't his business who I got busy with, but knowing Em, he would make an exception this time. And I was crazy if I didn't think he would.

"Emmett?" Jasper said, shocked and pushing me away as I scrambled away from him, reaching for my glasses.

"Bella?" Emmett said, filling the doorway with his massive body, hands on hips and staring at us. "What the hell is going on in here?' He asked, teeth clenched and taking a menacing step forward.

My brain would take this perfect opportunity to go on vacation. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I must have resembled a big mouth bass as my jaw opened and closed.

Emmett took another step forward as Jasper was attempting to detangle his legs from the sheets and pull himself upright with one arm. Jasper's sharp hiss of pain as he jarred his arm brought me back to reality and I went to him with the intention of helping him.

"Bella I asked you a question." Emmett demanded, stepping between Jasper and I.

"N-n-nothing –." I lied. I didn't know why I felt the need to lie, Jasper and I were two consenting adults and what we choose to do or not do was none of Emmett's business.

Jasper had managed to get vertical, sitting on the edge of the bed and attempting to stand. "Em, she was just –"

Emmett clamped a hand down on Jasper's good shoulder, squeezing and pushing him back down. Before I could even move Emmett turned his cold blue eyes on me, rooting me to the spot. "What were you about to tell me, _friend_?" He turned back to Jasper and spoke through clenched teeth, jaw tight and with his other hand fisted at his side. I could tell that he was trying to reign in his emotions and not inflict more pain on to Jasper than he was already in. "You were about to tell me the truth, right old buddy whom I've _entrusted_ my sister's _life_ to?"

_Can we say master guilt trip, party of two?_

"Emmett that's enough." I said, brain back working again. I stepped up to Emmett and planted my hands on his chest, pushing him away from Jasper. I faced him head on. "We fell asleep watching TV. I was having a nightmare and Jasper woke me up. I was crying and he was trying to get me to calm down. Simple as that."

The vein above his right eye twitched and I knew that he was calculating my story against what he saw. He was trying to see if I were lying or in fact telling the truth. His eyes roamed over the bed and came to rest on my laptop and notebook. I stood my ground and refused to look away. Emmett was good at intimidating people, but I refused to let him get to me.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Are you okay?" He finally asked, pulling me into the warm circle of his arms.

I nodded, resting my head on his chest. I knew that he wasn't completely satisfied by my answer but let it drop for now.

Jasper stood, swaying a bit on unsteady feet. "Did you need something Em?"

Emmett placed a kiss on my forehead and released his hold on me. He looked at Jasper with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, we need to have a quick family meeting. I talked to the police this afternoon. I just wanted to go over a few things with you guys."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, sure. Thirty minutes?" I asked turning to leave.

"Get your stuff Bells, there's no need to come back in here." He nodded at my workbag. I shoved my computer, notebooks and files into the bag and turned to leave, expecting Emmett to follow. "But I need to speak with Jasper first."

I opened my mouth to protest but he firmly shut the door in my face and clicked the lock.

* * *

**JPOV**

Emmett closed the door in Bella's face, locking it and turned to me. I had a sick feeling come over me. I knew the look on his face and it wasn't good; he suspected more to the story than what Bella had told him. With one arm in a sling and the slightly dizziness that I still felt from the blood loss, there was no way that I could fight Emmett off of me should he choose to use my face as his punching bag.

He hesitated for a second and then with his fist struck the back of the door. There was a muffled yelp and the sound of Bella's laptop bag hitting the floor. No words were necessary: she knew to get the fuck away from listening at the door.

He took a step toward me and I back peddled, colliding against the wall. I was literally stuck between a wall and a hard place.

"Whitlock." Emmett said, coming to stand directly in front of me. He was slightly taller than me so I had to look up at him and I hated that. "I hope that you don't think that for one minute I buy that bull shit Bella was selling." His eyes were near black, cold with anger and his voice was low and tight with an undercurrent of fury. "Now, I'm not going to ask you what the fuck you were doing with my sister because I don't want my _best friend_ to feel the need to lie to me."

His massive bear like paw clamped down on my good shoulder again, pushing me back and effectively pinning me to the wall. My head hit the drywall with an audible _thud_.

The only man I had ever feared was my father, and I had even grown out of that fear as I got older. Had this been any other man I would have dropped them were he stood. But this was Emmett, my oldest friend, my brother of sorts and my employer. I was not afraid of him, but I would respect him.

"But I will tell you this, and I will tell you _only_ once: Don't even _think_ about my sister in that way. Do not look at her; do not touch her. Do not even _smell_ her. _Do not fuck with my sister_. _Capisce (Do you understand)_?"

"Em-"

"You saved her life last night," he interrupted me, "so you get this one freebie Whitlock." He held his index finger up. "Do I have your word?"

I swallowed hard. "You have my word Emmett."

He smiled and lightly slapped my face. "Good. See you downstairs in thirty."

Emmett left me to shower and change and I sat on the edge of the bed smacking myself in the head with my open palm and tugging on my hair.

What the hell was I thinking?

Sure, I wanted to kiss Bella. Hell, I wanted to do more than kiss her. But at the same time I knew that whatever fantasies I had been concocting in my head had no chance of happening in reality.

Emmett had hired me to do a job, and that job was to watch his little sisters back. _Not to watch her back as I pounded into her from behind like I had just been dreaming about. _

I needed to get my head in the game and my dick in check. There was a whole lot more at stake here than just getting laid.

Emmett is a smart man, one of the smartest men that I know, and I just cannot do this to him. He had been my best friend since college. He was like my brother. And if he was like my brother then that made Bella like my little sister too. And it was definitely not proper to be thinking of a sister like that.

I could not afford to be distracted; no matter how sweet I fantasized her pussy being and how soft I knew her lips to be. There was no way I could put his trust in me on the line. That was what our whole friendship and the cornerstone of my business were built on. Without trust we had _nothing._

In the ten plus years of being a personal bodyguard I had never lost a client and I had never gotten involved with one. It was a rule that I had lived by and had helped keep me alive. Fucking someone that you were protecting was a whole lot more dangerous than just protecting them. You started thinking with your dick and not your head. It was too easy to be lead around following the pussy and not the leads and clues to catch whomever it was out to get them. Once that line was crossed it was damn near impossible to go back.

No, there was no way that I could put Bella's life in jeopardy simply because she had a set of double D's that winked, teased and spoke to me in my dreams. And the part of my brain that was screaming that this was so much deeper than those glorious tits and beautifully sculpted ass cheeks had to go.

I had to cut those thoughts out with a hot fuckin' dagger. Because if something happened to that remarkable woman simply because of my dick then there was no way I could even go on living. Not only would Emmett kill me, I couldn't live with the guilt knowing that I had killed her myself.

I knew that Bella was not going to want to talk about what had happened. She avoided almost anything associated with expressing her feelings. Hell, I use to be the same way, keeping your feelings bottled up and pretending that everything was okay. I had learned the hard way that that was no way to live.

But I would have to talk to her about the shooting and whatever it was going on between us before things got out of hand. Before something set her off and she really exploded. And then maybe, just maybe when all of this was over with I might have a shot at being with her.

That is, if Emmett didn't rip my balls off first for thinking nasty thoughts about his sister.

* * *

**BPOV**

"I think that we have to continue on with your plan to go with Edward to the next few events." Emmett held up his hands to stop my arguments. "Jasper and I spent a considerable amount of time last night after you went to sleep going over this, and we have no evidence that Edward was involved in anything last night as it makes no sense for him to get rid of you this soon after the engagement has been announced. He seems to think that he can still get you back, and it would be counter productive to do anything to jeopardize that. Plus we still don't know who the real target was." I sat curled on the sofa next to Rose in the library.

"Yeah," Jasper said, "it's very possible that the hit was for someone else entirely. There were a couple of high profile politicians there too. Including that one from New Jersey that's involved in that South American sex scandal."

"So, this next event is next Wednesday at his house with his family around, right?" Em asked. I nodded. "We think that you'll be safe there, he's not going to invite trouble into his own home with his mother and sisters around."

With the threat that Edward issued to me the previous night I knew that I wouldn't be able to get out of going to the wine party anyway.

Emmett continued. "This morning I also spoke with the detectives assigned to the case and they are trying to find any video footage or eyewitnesses that they haven't talked to already for a statement of what happened last night. And they also made it quite clear that they are intensely watching Edward. They suspect that he is involved in underground business, so to speak, but can't fully prove it. Jasper, you wanted to share something."

Jasper looked at us and took a deep breath. "The police and FBI have asked me to do some additional surveillance of the Masen family and there may be times when I am not available to escort you where you need to go. My brother Peter works for me and he has agreed to come assist us. He will be staying between here and my place in New York, so between the two of us the both of you will be covered."

"What do you mean the both of us?" Rose asked.

"I think that your involvement with our family should be protected as well." Emmett said. "And Jasper can't be at two places at once."

"So this guy Peter is going to be following me around too. No thanks, I can take care of myself. I've got all the protection I need right here." She dug around in her bra and pulled out her shiv, placing it on the coffee table.

"I don't think you realize how dangerous this situation can be." Emmett said, ignoring her shiv. "I'm not going to let anything happen to either of you."

Surprisingly Rose said nothing in defiance to Emmett's statement. The look he gave the both of us was enough to keep us quite on the matter.

"Why can't the police and the FBI send their own men in to do surveillance?" I asked.

"It takes a lot of prep work to get a man in on the inside. And so far I'm closer to him than anyone they've got. Edward doesn't know my background and since he's essentially new to the game, he won't necessarily be suspecting me."

"So they are sending you in to your death and you've agreed to this?" Rose asked, shocked.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

He turned to look just at me. "Bella, I've done this type of work before. It's not my first time at the dance. I'm not going to be in too deep, they just want to know the logistics of what he's got going on. The things I've already told them would have taken them months to get at the rate their going. It's going to be okay."

"_How_ do you already know things?" I asked. This was all too much. For him to already be putting himself in danger as my security guard was one thing, but now he was planning to do was down right crazy. If he were found snooping around the Masen estate Edward would not hesitate to kill him.

"Well, for one, I'm observant. Just from being around Edward and Tanya I know some of the people he has working for him, the ones that are just foot soldiers and the ones that are a little higher up. And two, Tanya has a really big mouth."

Rose snorted. "There are high school _legends_ on how big that whore's mouth is."

Emmett blushed. He didn't know that I knew that he had had first hand experience on how big Tanya's mouth was. But that was ten years ago, and we were all different people then.

"One more thing," Emmett said, "I have to go to Japan in about three weeks. It's something I've been putting off for too long now. By then, this whole mess with Edward should be winding down. I'll be gone for at least ten days." He turned to look at me especially. "Jasper is in charge while I am away."

"What the hell Emmett, I'm a grown woman, not eight years old."

"No, but you don't always think of your safety first and that's what he's in charge of now anyway. _Only your safety_." He emphasized. "I want the both of you to listen to him." He was looking back and forth between Rose and myself. "Agreed?"

Rose and I looked at each other and then at Emmett at the same time. "Yes," we said in unison.

He rolled his eyes, knowing that we were going to be difficult.

We went back to work on Wednesday, where we were met by Edward as soon as we got off of the elevator. I was desperate to get into my lab and I was not really in the mood for him. He scooped me up into his arms as soon as he saw me. I tried pulling away but he quickly reminded me that we were in public and that I had better make a good show of it. Several of my employees and two of our board of directors walked by and winked or nodded their approval.

Usually Jasper would leave me as we exited the elevator every morning to go to his own office across the hall from mine, but this morning he hung out with me while Edward was there. Edward ignored him as usual.

"What do you want Edward?"

"Is it too much for you to return my calls?"

He had called me three times before breakfast but I hadn't wanted to speak to him. "What do we have to talk about? We're not dating and we're definitely not engaged."

He ignored my statement regarding our relationship status. "Well for one, why aren't you wearing my ring?" He perched on the edge of my desk.

He had given the ring back to me the night of the charity ball, people expected to see me wearing it he explained.

"Because for one, we're really not engaged," I repeated, "two, it is too big and too flashy to wear while I'm at work and three, we're really _not_ _engaged_!"

He picked up my hand, kissing my fingers, seemingly ignoring what I had just said. I tried pulling it out of his grasp but he held on tightly. "If you marry me you wouldn't have to work. I can more than afford to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself thank you and I work because I love it. What do you _want_ Edward?"

"I want you this weekend."

I managed to extract my hand from his grasp and pushed away from him. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, I want you that way too, but I have a client from France coming to sample my wine this weekend, he knows about our engagement and he wants to meet you."

"Why does he want to meet me Edward?" I was getting tired of his game.

"He read about you in some science magazine and he is a fan of your work. He wants to talk about your new fuel project or something." He waved his hand dismissing my project as if it were nothing.

"Your wine party is _next_ Wednesday." I reminded him, tossing the files I had in my hand to the desk. "Not _this_ weekend."

"Yes, but Bernard is only in town this weekend before he heads to his store in Los Angeles. He is one of my best customers and he specifically mentioned meeting you."

I sighed. Perhaps if I did this one act of goodwill for Edward then it may make things easier for us later on. I looked at Jasper. He minutely nodded. "What time?"

"Fabulous. Eight o'clock Saturday. We are dining at my townhouse here. I will send the car for you at seven."

"That won't be necessary, Tyler can drive us."

"Us?"

I nodded toward Jasper. "Jasper and I of course."

He looked at Jasper as if he were seeing him for the first time. "I have security Isabella, you are aware of that."

"Yes, and I have security as well. You are aware of _that_."

I could see him calculating on how to eliminated Jasper for the evening. But apparently he pushed that thought aside for the moment.

"Yes, I am very aware. Then I shall see you both at eight."

He leaned down to kiss me, but I turned and walked away before his lips could make contact with mine. He stood there for a second longer, like he was contemplating how to react to me walking away from him, before turning to leave.

"By the way, who is this Bernard?" I asked before he walked out the door.

"Bernard Arnault, he is –"

I gasped. "Bernard Arnault? I know very well who he is, I've helped make him a rich man."

"He will be accompanied by his wife, but this is a very informal affair, no need to fuss too much."

Jasper folded his large frame into one of the chairs in front of my desk. I tended to forget how tall he was until he had been in close proximity to Edward.

"Who is Bernard Arnault?"

"He is the President of Louis Vuitton." I changed into my lab coat and took my contacts out at the little bar sink in the corner. The chemicals that I was going to be working with did not sit well with the lenses against my eyes and I wanted to retain what vision I did have. "Rose is going to freak out. We both spent like a years salary at his store in Paris last year."

"Great, so I guess I need to brush up on my purse talk." He deadpanned, adjusting the sling his arm was encased in. Emmett had tried to get him to stay home and in bed, saying that he would watch out for me for the next couple of days while he recuperated, but Jasper had refused. He said that he had made me a promise and didn't want to break it.

"Funny." I changed out of my heels and pulled on my lab coat.

"Bella, we need to talk about last night."

I shook my head, not wanting to get into it. I felt that we were okay and that talking about it would only put a strain on the relationship that we already had. Plus, the longer we didn't talk about it the more time I had to either plan another route of seduction around Emmett or just prepare my game face for when he finally rejected me. "I've got work to do Jasper."

He caught my hand. "Bella, you can't go around bottling up how you feel all of the time. It's not healthy. Please –"

I pulled away from him. He had hopped on the same 'express-your-feeling' train that Emmett was on and I didn't want to hear it. I didn't do well with expressing my emotions. In my head I had neat little boxes for all things emotional and to go rifling through them did no good other than to potentially expose myself to all kinds of ridicule and rejection. On top of everything else I was dealing with I didn't need that kind of drama too. "I've got work to do." I repeated and left him in my office.

Rose did freak out. She was actually willing to put up with Edward if I could get her invited. Right before I called to ask him she changed her mind. She wanted to meet her idol, but more importantly she wanted her idol to _know_ her. Rose's talent and success in art and the fashion world always astounded me.

Her medium was usually modern art but lately she had been taking classes at F.I.T learning about fashion, different fabrics and how to put them together. She always used me as her model and I gladly wore her outfits to parties and gallery openings. She had real talent that I was willing to promote.

"You have to wear one of my pieces. It's a really simple thing, basic black, but it's sewn really well."

"What does it look like?"

"I'll bring it over tomorrow. And when Bernard Arnault asks you who you are wearing, you will say, 'it's an Rosalie Hale design'." She giggled, dreaming about the possibilities.

It was a black strapless halter-top bodice jumper with a full harem style pant leg and a tiny gold belt that went around my waist. I sincerely hoped that I wouldn't have to pee that night; there was a hidden zipper down the back and there was no way I could reach it easily enough to get out of the jumper myself.

Rose was right, it _was_ really simple. I had seen similar items in boutiques in the city, but none of them came close to being styled or fitted like Rose's creation. I was proud to wear it and would boldly proclaim it as a Rosalie Hale design.

After doing my hair and makeup, piling the curls on top of my head and leaving a few down to frame my face, she announced me as acceptable to wear one of her designs. She had invaded Jasper's closet as well, arranging an outfit for him.

I met him downstairs before we were to leave and had the strongest urge to blow Edward and Bernard off and take him somewhere and jump his bones. He was in a wool blend charcoal color pant with a matching sports coat and a cream color v-neck cashmere sweater.

"You look lovely."

"Why thank you sir, you're very handsome yourself. How's your arm?"

"It's okay, the stitches itch a little and I can't wear my gun holster on that side yet, it rubs."

"So where are you wearing it?"

"It's right here, next to my other gun." He flexed his good arm, pointing at his bicep that he declared was his other gun.

I rolled my eyes laughing. "Corny."

"Yeah, but you laughed." He reached behind his back, underneath the sports coat and produced a small handgun. "I don't like keeping it back here, but until my arm fully heals I guess it'll have to do." He replaced the gun in its hiding place. "Does this dude speak English or am I gonna have to try to decipher French all night?"

"I'm pretty sure he speaks English." I checked my hair in the foyer mirror. "Edward does not speak French well and I only know enough to get around the country."

We arrived a little before eight and to my horror Tanya was there, decked out in all her skank glory. She was wearing the shortest, most ill fitting cocktail dress I had ever seen in my life in a hideous shade of electric blue. I thought that at any moment either a titty or an ass cheek would pop out of one of the ends. It was so bad that it nearly hurt my eyes to look directly at her and every time I thought about how she looked I wanted to laugh in her face.

As soon as she spotted Jasper she made a beeline to him, attaching her claws into him and refusing to let go. Edward did likewise to me, securing me to his side with his unrelenting arm. He introduced me to Bernard and even included Jasper, saying that he was my cousin. Bernard Arnault was easy to talk to and we immediately fell into conversation about my project.

After about an hour Edward called us all to attention and gave us the background information about how this particular wine was developed. I had never been a connoisseur of wine; no matter how much people went on and on about it, to me it was always dry and bitter.

But for appearance sake I had to go through the motions of breathing it in, swishing it in my mouth and spitting it out. This was repeated for all colors, the white, red and blush. I found that I particularly like the blush wine. Edward explained that it was a dessert wine, smoother than the others and sweeter, but I didn't care and requested it for dinner.

"Isabella, this is the first that you've tasted of Edward's new wine?" Bernard asked me.

"Yes, I'm not much of a wine person and apparently Edward's been keeping it a secret from us all." I fell into my loving fiancé role with a mental grimace.

"Edward, how do you keep anything from this beautiful intelligent woman?"

He smiled at me and for a quick moment he looked like my old Edward. Then he spoke and it was gone. "I'm an important man Bernard, I can't expose all of my secrets, now can I?"

"Your ring is lovely," Mrs. Arnault remarked, "did Edward pick that out or did you?"

"Actually, I had no idea about any of it. It was a complete surprise."

"I must say, it looks bigger in person than on the Internet."

Edward leaned over and captured my face in one of his hands, kissing me. I resisted the urge to kick him under the table.

"Nothing is too good for my love," he said to her but was looking at me.

I wanted to vomit. I poured more wine and turned up my glass instead.

The conversations continued with Bernard asking me more about my project and others that I was working on. The more wine I consumed the angrier I became at watching Tanya fawn all over Jasper.

She was asking for an ass whippin' and the liquid courage I was drinking was making me itch to give her one. At one point during dessert I excused myself to go to the bathroom and when I got up I stumbled a little. Edward caught me, saying to the others that the wine was stronger than I probably anticipated. I wanted to say 'no shit Sherlock', but I hadn't drunk enough for the filter from my brain to my mouth to completely stop working and I figured that that little statement might get me in more trouble than it was worth.

I managed to find the tiny zipper and get it undone before I pissed myself. I peed like a racehorse. If I kept drinking there was no way I would be able to get the zipper down later by myself. I was glad Rose would be waiting on us when we got home.

Bernard asked me about my jumper and I produced Rose's card. He was thoroughly impressed with her sewmanship and attention to detail. I tried to remember everything he had said about the garment because I knew that Rose would ask me over and over again what he said, how he said it and what was his facial expression when he said it.

At about eleven o'clock I was about as drunk as Cooter Brown and was getting up from the table preparing to head-butt that bitch Tanya. Edward had remarked how good his sister looked with Jasper and I put him second on my I'm-gonna-fuck-you-up-next list.

Jasper sensed my mood and quietly suggested to Edward that we go before I embarrassed him or myself. Edward started to refuse but when he saw that I could not even walk without assistance quickly agreed and escorted me to the car after I had another eventful visit to the bathroom. He didn't even try to take advantage of my drunken state by kissing me, just made sure that I was in the car safely and let us leave without incident. I curled up next to Jasper in the backseat and was asleep before we made it to down the street to the first red light.

Jasper woke me as we pulled up to the front of the house. Sleeping seemed to really help because I could _almost _walk unaided into the house. Two notes were on the table in the foyer where Jasper perched me to take off my stilettos. There was no way I could walk up three flights of stairs in those. Rose had gone to her studio and Emmett had gone into the city. It was strange that they had left notes and didn't text us the information.

I dismissed the notes once I felt Jasper's hands on my calves and ankles. His hands were warm and I was feeling a little frisky at the moment.

"Can you make it up the steps, or do you want to go up the elevator?"

I stood and swayed a little. Jasper made the decision and put me in the elevator. I leaned into him, hanging onto his good arm and making sure to push my breasts up against him. He looked down at me and when he licked his lips my panties went from desert to rain forest in a nanosecond. My liquid courage kicked in and I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him.

He hesitated for about a tenth of a second before his lips were all over mine. He pushed me back into the soft fabric walls of the elevator greedily consuming my lips, neck and starting to go lower. I couldn't breathe, but it was the good kind of lack of air and I didn't care if I ever breathed again so long as he didn't stop kissing me like that.

The doors opened and we stumbled out, lips still locked together. He was walking me backwards to where, I didn't know or care. His lips were soft and hard all at once and when he pushed his tongue into my mouth I thought my head would explode with the sheer aurora of lust it produced. I wanted him, he wanted me and we both wanted this _badly._

Somehow we managed to make it into my bedroom and fell backward onto my bed. I gasped with the sheer weight of him pinning me to the mattress and his erection grinding into me. I wanted to feel all of him and wrapped my legs around his waist. He groaned into my mouth at the friction that created.

His hands found my breasts through the material of the jumper and everything I had ever thought about concerning how his hands would feel on my breasts far exceeded my imagination.

I was panting and pulling at his sweater. I wanted to feel his hot skin against my own. He rose up slightly, breaking the hold on my lips just long enough for me to carefully pull the sweater and under shirt over his head. He hissed in pain as he extended his injured arm above his head to get free from the clothing. But the pain from his injury that he must have been feeling did nothing to slow us down.

I groaned with excitement when I felt his skin, running my hands over his perfect pectorals down over his abdomen and up his sides. He was burning up and I wanted him inside of me. Now!

He paused for a moment, just long enough to remove the gun he had tucked into the back waistband of his pants, placing it on the nightstand beside the bed. It was something about the sight of him handling that gun that made me near crazy with lust. I could feel how wet I was; it must have been running down my leg at this point. And then he attacked my mouth again and I thrust my hips upward seeking more friction. I thought I heard him call Gods name, so I it did it again.

Yup, definitely Gods name.

Sometimes when you are doing something that you know you probably shouldn't be doing something will interfere to give you the chance to back out without tucking tail and running and looking like a coward.

His phone rang.

I guess that 'something' turned out to be Jasper's phone.

A ringing phone is hard to ignore no matter how hot the sex is or about to be. A ringing _and _vibrating phone is worse. And it wasn't one of those soft rings, it was one of those hard core you'd better answer the motherfucka rings that don't stop with a vibration that shook the bed like a mini earthquake. Neither one of us could ignore it.

"Yeah," he answered in a tight, lusty throaty sound. "No, we're home."

I could tell from his tight expression that it was Emmett and I'm sure that it was the thought of Emmett interfering what we were doing that had him scooting away from me to the edge of the bed. Emmett was his reality check and the gravity of what we were about to do crashed down on him.

I couldn't blame him for stopping though. He was hired to be my bodyguard, not to be my friend or lover. Who was I but a trouble magnet genius who was far too smart for her own good, always tending to not fit in and push people away? Why would _he_, in all of his beautiful glorywant little plain looking and boring _me_? The room still spun a little and I had to hold on to the edge of the bed to keep from falling off.

Jasper talked a minute longer and snapped the phone shut. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a finger and thumb. "Bella-"

He had that we-can't-do-what-we-were-just-about-to-do look on his face, and my pride couldn't take it.

Rejection was a bitch.

But rejection and people leaving me was something I was very familiar with. Both of my parents had died and left me. Children in school often rejected my friendship because it was just easier to pick on the smart kid than to be her friend. The man that I had loved more than anything proved to me that I wasn't worth his time when I really needed him.

The only two people who were constant in my life were Emmett and Rose and I was afraid that they would one day see that I was not worth their time, cut their losses and leave. It was better to keep everyone at arms length, and then when they did leave me it wouldn't hurt as bad.

"I can't…we can't…shit...too much wine…we…should not do this. But-"

I stopped him from stumbling over the rest of his explanation. "Hey, it's okay Jasper. It's no biggie."

I nodded, turning away from him, throat to tight to talk. I just wanted him to leave. He stared at me for a moment, mumbled something more that I didn't care to decipher and left.

As soon as the door closed I wanted him, back but I pushed those dangerous thoughts away. It was clear where he stood on the matter; he didn't want me and it was the alcohol that we had both consumed that had caused us to act that way. I somehow managed to get out of the jumper and took a long hot shower, only then allowing myself the freedom to cry and let the water wash away the tears.

* * *

**JPOV**

She was so stinking drunk, and so damn sexy. When she curled up next to me in the car all I could think about was pulling that damn jumper down and sucking on those nipples. The damn things were winking at me again. I was glad when I heard her soft snore, it meant I had a chance to get my dick under control before it ruined everything. I prayed that Tyler would drive slow enough to just give me that chance.

She was slightly better when we got home, even though she could hardly walk in those damn spike heels. I don't know why girls get drunk and then try to walk in those things. But then again taking them off of her was nice too. Her toenails were painted in that sexy French manicure style and her heels were soft. I hated hard heels, they scratched when you were curled up in bed next to their owner.

It was a good thing Emmett and Rose were gone. I would hate for him to see what great care I was taking of his sister, letting her get wasted like this. But then again, Bella was her own woman; no matter how much she looked up to her big brother she would eventually do her own thing.

I knew that there would be no way to get her up the stairs without carrying her, and I didn't want to risk that. Hell, I had had too much to drink too. I didn't want to tumble down three flights of stairs on top of her. In my slightly drunken state and her completely drunken state I thought that the elevator would be safe enough.

What the hell was I thinking?

She looked at me like she wanted to eat me. And I wanted to eat her too. I wanted to sop her up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So much for the slow drive home, I was hard in a second. Her little hands came up and pulled me down to her and I was gone. Her fucking lips were so damn soft and hot that I couldn't help myself. She was pulling me into her and her little hands were all over me. I had her up against the wall with my dick pressed into her stomach and I thought I was gonna fuckin' cum right there before I even had a chance to whip it out.

We fell out of the elevator and I had no clue where we were headed. I knew I just needed to find some sort of horizontal surface and fast. I couldn't take her against the wall; I was too uncoordinated at the moment for that. I could smell her arousal and she was burning the fuck up in my arms and I wanted to be inside of her before she completely exploded.

Emmett be damned!

It was her bedroom we got to first and when we hit the mattress she did this little whimper thing that had me near crazy with lust and wanting to rip her clothes off. My hands found those damn winking nipples and I pinched them through the material. She wrapped her legs around me and ground upward. I think I called Gods name and a couple of times and my mind kept repeating the word 'fuck'. I bored down onto her and she was all but clawing at my sweater trying to get it off.

I don't know if it was God trying to save my dick from the wrath of Emmett, or just a sick and twisted coincidence that my phone choose that moment to ring. I usually kept the motherfucker on vibrate or silent when we were at functions, but for some reason I had left it on and that shit was loud and it wouldn't stop ringing _and_ fucking vibrating. I answered it, and don't you know it was Emmett, checking up on his little baby sister.

It took me a second too long to find my voice and make it sound normal. He had to ask me twice before I could get it out. He wanted to know how it all went and if Edward had tried anything. All of the blood in my body was concentrated in one particular spot and it wasn't my fuckin' brain.

I gave him short choppy answers; it was all that would come out because Bella was wiggling under me but not in the good way. She was trying to get away and I was trying to answer Emmett's questions, think of a way to fuck her and it not mess up our working relationship and to not have her brother castrate me at the same fucking time. So I moved off of her for a minute to think.

I finally told him bye and just hung up on him while he was in mid sentence. Bella was sitting there like she was ashamed of what we had just been doing. I didn't want her to feel that way _ever_, but I didn't know how to get the moment back.

How could I explain to her that her brother had all but threatened my life and limbs if I so much as _thought _about doing to her what I was about to do to her?

"Bella-"

She held up her hands and said that she was cool and just turned away from me. It was like a light switch, on one minute and off the next. I opened my mouth to say more but nothing coherent came out. I reached for her but my hands came up empty and I was too chicken shit to just say it without all of the pretty words that I thought she needed to hear.

Instead I told her that we should not do this.

_Fuck me!_

Now she thinks that I don't want her or that I've lost the desire or worse, the ability. What I meant to say is that we should not do this because I don't want to mess up our working relationship, but I want to anyway and we can find a way to work the rest out after I finish fucking you-no, making love to you- for the rest of your stubborn life.

_Waitonefuckingminute!_ Love? Is that what I really felt? This little scrap of a woman who drove me crazy some days running from me at work thinking that I didn't know where she was, back talking me and making my life hell. The same woman who could beat me at most Wii games and out run me and stare down mafia crime lords and love others unconditionally and give a little lost soul a home and cook like Julia Childs and the list went on and on because that's how fuckin' great she is. I was in fucking love with Isabella Marie McCarty and I was sitting here on the edge of her bed fucking up the best thing in my life.

I mumbled something to her, I don't even know what the hell it was and left. If I was too fucking scared to say it, then I didn't deserve to be in her presence.

* * *

**EmPOV**

"That was weird." I said, looking at the phone in my hand. Jasper had just abruptly hung up on me.

"What?"

"Jasper. He was incoherent. Like he was drunk or something."

"Well you did say that they went to a wine party."

"Yeah, but he doesn't drink on the job. He's serious about that." I thought about calling him back but then thought that maybe it was some sort of signal, like he was in trouble and needed help. I jumped up.

"Where are you going?"

"They might be in trouble."

She laughed. "Or they could be just about to do something and you interrupted." She waggled her eyebrows seductively.

I sat back down, shaking my head and frowning. Jasper had given me his word that he would stay away from Bella in that way. I had two options: I could trust him and his word or two, I could drive home and see if what my girl was implying was actually going on and take care of Jasper in the process.

No, I would choose option one. Ever since that night five days ago they've been acting normal. Surly Jasper was professional enough to not let this relationship go beyond a working friendship and loyal enough to not disregard my wishes. Bella was difficult enough to protect without throwing a relationship into the mix. If that's what it even could be.

Yes, she was grown and able to make her own decisions about who she let into her life, but at the same time she was my little sister and I didn't want her to get hurt. I knew about Jasper's past relationships and hook-ups and I didn't want Bella to put too much into something that would probably not work anyway. Plus, wasn't she still hurting from the whole Edward situation?

"Why is that so hard to believe? Your sister is sexy, Jasper is sexy. They are together all of the time. It's bound to happen."

"No, not with Bella. Jasper promised me."

"Promised you what?" She asked.

I waved away her question, not wanting to get into it with her. The times that we had been together lately had been strained over my concern about Bella and usual business dealings. We had had a good night out and I didn't want to ruin the moment.

"She is a woman. We have our needs." My girl argued.

"And what do you need?" I asked, kissing her neck, distracting her. If Jasper said that they were okay, then I would take his word for it. He had never given me a reason to doubt him before. Right now I had a beautiful woman beside me that needed my attention.

"Let me show you."

My girl lowered her mouth over my dick and took all of me into her mouth.

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you think of Emmett's reaction? Were you expecting more or less? Do you think Jasper's reaction was right? Or do you think he should have said something more? Who do you think Emmett's secret woman is? Is it Tanya? Rose? Charlotte? Or someone else?**

**Thoughtful reviews keep the creative juices flowing, so let me know what you're thinking!**


	9. Chapter 9

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 9**

**I want to say thank you to everyone that has read my little fic and everyone that has read and reviewed. Your thoughts are especially helpful and keep me on my toes. I write because I enjoy it, but I write better when I know that others are enjoying it as well (at least I hope I do). ;)**

**This chapter is a little mellow, but it has some very important points. It also gives a little of why our darling Emmy is so over protective (more of that will also come in the next chapter too). So please just stay with me and trust that all will work out.**

**Thanks Cullen818!**

**Remember: SM Owns it!**

**

* * *

****BPOV**

I got up Sunday morning and went running, without Jasper. I needed time to think and couldn't do that with him beside me or even lagging behind me like he usually did.

I decided that the best way to proceed with him was to act like nothing had ever happened. Yes, I wanted him and so much more from him, but it was blatantly obvious that he did not want me in that way. If he did, he would have said something last night instead of just walking away like that, right? You just didn't walk away from the people you cared about.

Technically Jasper worked for Emmett, so I would treat him and our situation like we were employer and employee again.

He was standing on the patio waiting for me when I returned and I could tell that he was not too happy when I approached him.

"Where the hell have you been?" He demanded.

"Excuse me?" I asked over my shoulder as I headed upstairs to my room to shower and dress.

"I asked, where have you been?"

I turned, narrowing my eyes at him and took on a tone of authority. "First of all, I went for a jog, that should be obvious giving that I am wearing running shoes and work out clothes. Second, I think, no I know that you had better watch the tone of your voice when you're speaking to me."

For a split second his eyes widened in shock at how forceful I was in speaking to him and then he nodded. I didn't know what conclusion he came to or what he was thinking and I was too mentally exhausted to care. I busied my self with going through my closet.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me know what you are scheduling so that I may be able to fulfill my obligations." He said, following me into my room and closet.

Great, now I'm an obligation. That hurt.

I nodded and spoke over my shoulder to him. "So noted. Since it's Sunday, I am having brunch with the Sound Beach Ladies Society at eleven. At two, I'm getting my nails done, at four I'm meeting Rose in the city for shopping and at seven we'll be attending an opening for a feature artist at a gallery that is also in the city."

"Is that all?"

"Yes," I looked down at my watch, "its nine now and I will be leaving at half past ten. I suggest you bring a bag seeing as how I won't be back here to change. You will need to be in golf attire for the brunch, and slacks and some sort of sweater for the galley. I could care less what you wear when we go shopping so long as you stay out of my way. Now," I turned back to him, "if you will excuse me I need to start getting ready." My hand was on the door about to push him out of the room.

"Bella."

I hated that he was saying my name like that. A plea. But I couldn't break. To break would mean that I would hurt when he would give me all the reasons that last night wouldn't have been wise. I could take on a lot, hell, I already had, but I couldn't bear his rejection again.

I fake smiled brightly, blinking like an owl. "Yes?"

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. I saw the uncertainty in his eyes and my heart yearned to reach out and touch him. I gripped the door tighter, knuckles going white.

"Just say it Whitlock."

I think it was the use of his last name that did it. He sighed heavily.

"I'll be downstairs at ten thirty."

I closed the door, almost in his face.

**

* * *

****JPOV**

I had searched the entire house; all one fifteen fucking rooms and could not find her. Her phone was on the desk in her room and her laptop was still open to CNN. I looked in her closet, but trying to determine what Bella would be wearing by what was left behind would be impossible. Her fucking closet was as big as my whole damn loft in the city.

I didn't want to wake Emmett. He had come home late last night, really this morning, smelling like sex and perfume. I was glad one of us was getting some. He did not need to know that I was failing at my job or my obligation as his friend until absolutely necessary. I needed a little more time with my dick before he took it off my body.

Besides, I was almost certain that she was just trying to find time alone to think things through. It was her style to want to be alone and outside when she needed to think. But damnit, she should have told me where she wanted to go. I could have still been there to watch her back and given her the space she needed at the same time.

I was talking to Peter when I spotted her coming across the yard. Hell, it was a football field it was so big and I was suddenly glad that I wasn't in the landscaping business.

It was apparent that she had been out jogging but I asked her where she had been anyway and she all but snapped on me. I should have figured as much, I left her in such a bad way the night before that she had every right to be angry with me. But when she said my name, my last name, it was like a knife to the heart.

She had gone from loving and warm to ice bitch overnight. I understood that that was the price I had to pay until I could get my shit together and tell her how I really felt. I would play the game for now, but all of that shit would have to end as soon as I laid my soul bare to her.

* * *

**BPOV**

Jasper was prompt if nothing else. He was waiting downstairs for me dressed in blue and white stripped seersucker pants, a white polo shirt and brown and cream saddle oxfords. His hair was sticking up everywhere like he had been yanking on it and despite the constipated look on his face he was the picture of bad boy preppie-ness. Knowing that he was carrying a concealed weapon, possibly multiple concealed weapons, made me want to fuck him where he stood.

I took a deep breath and focused on pushing my feelings for him away. We hadn't even made it out of the door yet and I was already internally whimpering for him.

He took my bag and along with his loaded them into my gray Range Rover. I forgot my 'engagement' ring and went back upstairs to get it. One thing I didn't need was to run into Edward's mother or anyone that knew us both, at the country club and not have it on.

As bad as I wanted to give her and the rest of the Masen family a piece of my mind and a foot up their ass I knew that right now was not the right time. My time was coming though; I could feel that with certainty. I left a note in Emmett's office and we left.

The Sound Beach Ladies Society, SBLS, was established for the well to do ladies of Greenwich to get together and develop plans to help those in need. The Society had been around for a century or more and had done charitable deeds in those years that really made a difference in our small community and those around us. My mother had been a member before I was born, and so when I turned thirteen I was inducted into the group represent our family.

Lately, I had begun to dread going to the brunches and working with the ladies, all they seemed to want to do was to gossip and drag people through the mud. I was especially dreading this meeting because I had been in the news too much lately to not be a hot topic of conversation.

The valet at Innis Arden Golf and Country Club helped me from the SUV, looking a little too long at my legs. I smiled and extracted my hands from his sweaty, meaty fingers. Jasper bristled when he saw the guy staring but said nothing.

I pinned on my white wide brim society hat and pointed out to Jasper where the husbands, drivers and other security guys went to play golf while their respective others met for the meeting. He seemed excited about the golf and left me alone, thankfully.

Bizzy Love was chairwoman of the SBLS and the busiest gossip in town. She knew what was happening on the other end of the city even before it happened. She air kissed me and hooked her arm through mine.

"So Bella darling, please tell me about your upcoming nuptials."

"Well Bizzy, I really haven't had time to start planning." I hated how easy it was to lie about my upcoming 'wedding'. "Right now, I'm in the process of planning the yearly McCarty Enterprises gala. That's taking up most of my time, and with my own work load, well, you know how it is."

"No dear I don't, you know I haven't worked since that summer I turned sixteen. I worked for a week as a soda jerk down at Toomer's drug store. I wanted the experience of a working woman but Father was so against it and so embarrassed that his daughter was working that he nearly disinherited me that year."

She laughed, patting her hair-sprayed helmet hair in place. I wanted to choke her. How could I be apart of this society –if you could even call it that- when half the women had never stepped into a working role or even cleaned their own bathroom before? I bet half of them had never even been grocery shopping for themselves. I faked smiled just as brightly as I could.

She turned to look at me, smiling brightly. "Well hun, surely you have a date set in mind."

"Edward says that he wants a spring wedding," a nasally voice behind us remarked.

Before I could even roll my eyes, Bizzy, with her arm still linked through mine, spun us around at the sound of that voice. Tanya Masen smirked at me, eyes shining brightly in full bitch mode.

Great, this was all I needed. _Skankya_ and busy body Bizzy tag teaming against me. I could mentally see them tagging each other out of the ring.

Bizzy squealed and air kissed her and then hooked her other arm through Tunnel Mouth Tanya's. "Oh dear, you look fabulous!"

Fabulous? Was this biddy blind? Once again Skankya was bedecked in all of her harlot glory in what I could only describe as a spandex tummy tucking slip dress gone wrong in an eye offending canary yellow. I debated whether or not she could breathe and wondered how long the response time was on our small community ambulance service should I need to call in assistance. But then I thought that I just may let the bitch suffocate should she stop breathing. At least then she wouldn't be able to get at Jasper.

"I just want you to know _sister_, that I'm available any time this week to accompany you wedding dress shopping."

_Sister_? Wonder Skank had the nerve to call me _sister_? It was a good thing that we were separated by the great expanse of Bizzy's girth or I would have popped that bitch in the mouth. In my last self-defense class Jasper had taught me how to execute a right-handed uppercut with a wrist twist and I was dying to try it out on Snatch Biscuit.

"How kind of you to offer-"

"Yes, I know that you'll probably just buy something _off the rack_, so it shouldn't take you long to find something generic." She eyed me up and down, turning up her nose.

This boozhie was actually challenging my fashion sense when it was obvious that she was a card-carrying member of Whore's-R-Us with her two-dollar hooker dress?

"And for my bridesmaid dress I was thinking of having it custom made, there's no sense in all of us looking _common, _now is there_?_"

I had had enough. "By the way you're about to pop those seams on that shit you got on, I say that we get you a gym membership to go along with that new _custom_ made dress." I challenged her right back.

I swear if her eyes popped out of their sockets I was going to spear them with the heels of my shoes and walk around with them like a trophy. Tanya's entire face turned red and she was so flustered that she couldn't make a snappy comeback.

"You – you –"

For the first time since I had known Bizzy, she actually made use of her brain for good. "Now Tanya, let's sit before the meeting starts." And she pulled the whore away before it became a real catfight.

It was toward the end of the meeting when I saw Edward approaching our table. I forgot that he played golf on some Sunday mornings. All of the ladies swooned over him, congratulating us and remarking at how beautiful we looked together. I hated to admit it, but he was quite dashing in his khaki color golf pants and brown polo, bronze hair sticking up everywhere. He bent down behind my chair kissing my neck, causing the ladies to applaud.

"We want to see a real kiss." Bizzy instigated.

"Oh no, not here," I said, trying to get out of it.

"Oh pooh, no one is looking but the twelve of us. Just kiss him for us," another lady remarked.

"Oh, I have an idea. Why don't you reenact the proposal for us?" This was from Bama Chesser, who's older brother was on the board of directors at McCarty Enterprises. Yes, her name was Bama, short for Alabama. Who names their kid after a state nickname? "Your father would be so proud that you're marrying well." She touched the corner of her eye as if she were tearing up. "I remember the day you joined us; he wanted us to look out for you and school you in the proper ways of being a wife. And now we've taught you so much and you'll make our Edward so proud."

Can someone please pass the vomit bucket? I admired her brother, but now I wanted to send her old ass to an early grave.

I distinctly remembered that day as well. Emmett and I had fought all morning about the dress I was to wear to my induction ceremony. Not wanting to be around a bunch of stuffy old women anyway, I was perfectly comfortable in my cut off shorts and tee shirt. I hated dresses with a passion and I was not going to be caught dead in one.

Our argument had gotten so bad that our Father had intervened. I had been so shocked that he had paid even the tiniest bit of attention to me that I instantly agreed to wear whatever he wanted me to wear as long as he promised to take me to the country club himself.

After the ceremony he had remarked to several of the ladies that he wanted me to join the club because he felt that they could teach me more about being a woman than either he or Emmett could. And that while being a wife was good for some, he felt that it was more important for me to be a confident, strong woman.

That same year, after thirteen years of my life of having a 'present-in-the-body-but-absent-in-the-mind-and-spirit' father, I learned who Emmett McCarty Sr. really was. He stopped hiding behind mountains of work and started learning how to deal with his grief. He started talking to me, spending time with me and took back from Emmett his duties as a father.

Things didn't change overnight, but they got progressively better. And now listening to Bama Chesser mutilate my father's words and memory made me want to stuff her white society hat down her throat and hang her by her silicon titties.

The SBLS ladies, including that whore Tanya, began chanting 'do it' over and over. I was turning bright red with anger and embarrassment. There was no way to get them to shut the hell up. I stood, not wanting them to attract any more attention to us than they already had. Several golfers and wait staff had already begun to filter in with the chanting.

Edward was thoroughly pleased with the ladies and I wondered for a second if he had slipped them each a fifty to egg it on.

Damn filthy rich bitches.

He got down on one knee and was smiling from ear to ear when he saw my ring. He repeated the words he had said that night, even the Italian parts, which had them swooning and I'm sure dripping wet in their La Perla panties even more. When it came time for me to respond I couldn't even get the one simple word out.

"She's so taken with emotion that she can't even say it," one of the ladies remarked. "How sweet."

I nodded, barely, and then they were again chanting for him to kiss me. Edward complied with grand style, one hand behind my neck and the other on the small of my back holding me to him. His lips were hard and urgent trying to get me to respond to him. In my mind, I was thinking of Jasper and had to battle with my thoughts to not compare the two men.

One was soft, hot and on fire; the other was hard and possessive. One wanted to give me pleasure and the other only wanted pleasure for himself. I pushed the thoughts away and with them Edward. He was smiling down at me and all I could see was Jasper, standing in the doorway behind Edward, looking like he had been kicked in the balls.

Edward saw him too and pulled me a closer again, nuzzling my neck and placing kisses on my jawline. "He can't please you like I can." He whispered against my ear.

This time when I pushed him away he didn't reach for me. Just laughed and excused himself from what was left of the meeting.

"Oh Bella," Tanya said, as we were leaving the club, "Tell Emmy that it was good seeing him last night after the wine party." She winked and sashayed out the door leaving me standing there with an open mouth and a blank expression.

* * *

**JPOV**

I felt like I had been kicked in the balls. _My guts hurt_. I wanted to kill that bastard and wring her little ass neck. It was all I could do to walk away while those damn rich bitches cheered and clapped like it was the best fucking thing in the world.

My woman was kissing another man.

Sure I had seen Edward kiss her before, but that was before she was my woman.

_She is not your woman_.

The fuck she's not!

I knew from the moment I saw Edward teeing off that he would somehow find his way to Bella and interrupt their meeting. And he knew I knew he was going to do it when he spotted me.

Fucking bastard

Why was this so hard? Why didn't I just tell Emmett to fuck off? Why couldn't I have just told her how I felt last night and spent today swimming in her sweet wet pussy?

Because deep down I knew that starting anything with Bella right now would not be a good idea.

I snatched the keys from the valet and went to get the car my damn self. All it would take is him lusting at the legs on my woman one more time and I would rip his eighteen-year-old dick off.

I took several deep breaths before pulling open the door and helping Bella into the car. I didn't need to be reckless and have a wreck just because I was too distracted with thoughts of Edward's hand on her ass, the ass that belonged to me. And his hand technically wasn't on her ass but it was too damn close for my good.

I dropped her off at the nail shop and went down the road to a pizza joint. The frilly food that those old rich bitches served wouldn't fill up a real man. I ordered a large pie and ate most of it without really tasting it. Then I ordered two additional slices for Bella. I noticed that she hadn't eaten any of that shit either.

By the time I got back to the nail shop she was sitting under that purple light thing waiting on me. I took her purse and she waddled to the car, swinging her arms for balance and toes in the air to prevent smudging. The sight of her walking like that eased the tension in my neck and I could feel myself starting to calm down a little.

She looked excited as hell to see food and dove in as daintily as she could, not wanting to ruin her nails or get pizza sauce on her dress. I turned slightly so that I could see her eating. The sight of her sucking on her fingers nearly had me running off the road so I turned back away from her.

I was going to tell her, I _had_ to. I just didn't know when or how.

* * *

**BPOV**

I wanted to talk to Jasper, to explain how and why Edward was kissing me. But then I stopped myself. I did not owe him any explanation and he had no right to be mad. He forfeited his right when he walked away from me the previous night.

I devoured the pizza and curled up in the passengers seat to catch a quick nap. Rose and I were going exclusively shoe shopping on Fifth Avenue and I would need all my energy for that.

We met at Rose's tiny studio apartment and changed. I put on jeans and a tank top and Jasper was in jeans and his white polo.

Rose grilled me on what and how Bernard had asked about her jumper. I was glad I had paid attention so well because I had to recount the story to her about four times before she decided she wasn't getting any new information out of me and started grilling Jasper.

Jasper stayed at a safe distance allowing Rose and I time to talk and giggle about various things. I always thought Rose had great intuition. She could always sense and see things that others missed. We were trying on Manolo's and Jasper had stepped outside of the store to make a phone call when she cornered me.

"What the hell is going on with you and Jasper?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You two are squaring off like you're about to box."

"I don't know what you mean Rose." I told her, turning away and asking the salesmen for another color of the stiletto I was trying on.

She pinched my arm, grabbing a meaty chunk and twisting. "You're a lying bitch. Spill it."

"Owww Rose! What the hell?" I said, rubbing the now red spot on my arm.

"Tell me." She demanded.

I sighed. There was no way to avoid telling her. She would get it out of me sooner or later anyway. "We made out last night."

"And?"

"And nothing. It ended before it got started." I jerked my arm away when I thought she was about to pinch me again.

"This one in purple please." She said to the sales lady. "You're still a lying bitch." This to me. "Details."

I sighed again. "I was a little more than drunk by the time I left Edward's townhouse. I slept some of it off on the way back and when we got home I basically attacked him in the elevator." I could feel myself turning red. "It was all systems go when the phone rang interrupting us. It was Emmett checking on us. Afterwards, he said that we shouldn't be doing this and some other shit before leaving my room."

I was near tears and had to swallow a few times and take a couple of deep breaths to keep them at bay. She hugged me tight.

"Maybe he meant because he's working for Emmett, that the line shouldn't be crossed."

"Then why didn't he say that? No," I shook my head, "he just doesn't want me like that. You should have seen the look on his face, it was like pity or disgust."

"Why would you think he feels pity or disgust toward you?"

"I don't know, maybe I gross him out or something. I mean look at me. I've got shit brown hair and eyes the same color. I'm too smart for my own good and I run my mouth entirely too much. I just don't need the rejection. I can see why Edward is upset now. I rejected him so turn around is fair play, right?."

"You stop it. That's not the same thing and you know it. I don't think Jasper pities or is disgusted by you at all. It's probably just the work thing. He doesn't need the extra distraction."

"I don't know and I don't want to think about it anymore."

"Well, you're being awful to him."

I didn't say anything so she continued.

"You know Bells, this thing you do with bottling up your feelings has got to stop. You were mugged and basically kidnapped for five day and then you run around here like everything is fuckin' roses, refusing to talk to anyone about it. People just don't mentally recover from something like that overnight."

I just looked at her and let her finish.

"You think that you're burdening people if you tell them how you're feeling. Well that's bullshit. The burden comes from us wonderin' when you've finally had enough and waiting for you to explode. The burden comes from us wantin' to help you and you not lettin' us. Hell, I may not be qualified to help you, but I sure as hell can help you find someone that is."

I started to respond but she cut me off, holding up her hands.

"Just think about it."

In a way I knew she was right and I couldn't argue with her about it. But I didn't know how to ask for help. If I asked then did that just leave me open to be hurt again? How do I give up the tight reign I had on my emotions and not be hurt by what I might discover?

And I also knew that I was being awful to Jasper. But we couldn't just go back to where we left off. I could not afford to let him in and be hurt or rejected again. Did I want him? Hell yes, but I had no clue as to how to proceed next.

We spent the next two hours buying shoes before heading back to her place to change again.

Rose was in the bathroom curling her hair and I was perched on the edge of her bed changing shoes when I saw them on her nightstand. They looked like they belong there, right between the alarm clock and lamp. It confirmed what I had been suspecting for about four years.

I scooped them up and dropped them in my purse. Something told me that I would need them later.

Rose was to artists as I was to geeks and nerds. She was an art diva. The gallery was owned by one of her friends and was filled to capacity with art lovers and wannabes. She was pulled in so many different directions that you would think that she was the feature artist of the night. Everyone wanted to talk to her and every magazine reporter wanted to interview her. I was happy for my friend and encouraged her to go mingle; I didn't need her babysitting me.

The feature artist was a contemporary artist who went by the name of Soule. His paintings were mostly dark and angry and I felt particularly drawn to one of them. It was a rendition of Edvard Munch's _The Scream._ Instead of just one person on the bridge there were two, one of them screaming and the other in a state of euphoria. It was entitled "The two faces of me". I stared at it for several minutes before moving on.

I walked around the rest of the gallery and eventually came back to "The two faces of me". I felt drawn to it because for the last several weeks it embodied exactly what I felt everyday when waking up to my life. I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice the man standing next to me.

"It reminds me of me." He said.

"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing." I turned and came eye-to-eye with a shorter version of Spike from Buffy.

"It's odd how that works, to have both emotions at the same time and sometimes not know why. At times it drives me crazy." He said, cornflower blue eyes sparkling.

I laughed softly. "I know exactly what you mean."

He extended his hand. "My name is James Cope."

I shook his hand. "Bella McCarty."

He held onto my hand a little longer than necessary for two complete strangers and I noted how small and slender his fingers were.

"I think I want to take this home. Unless of course you were thinking of purchasing it." He ran his fingers through his short pale blond hair, making it spike up everywhere.

I shook my head, reminding myself to not call him Spike by mistake. "No, you made your claim first. I hope you enjoy it."

"Well, maybe we can work something out."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if I purchase it and then invite you over to my place for dinner and to look at it." He said, smiling.

I could feel myself blushing and for once it was nice to be hit on. I smiled at him and then saw his facial expression change from smiling to shock and embarrassment. When I felt Jasper's arm around my waist I knew why.

"Oh, excuse me. I apologize for assuming that a beautiful woman such as yourself would be available."

He bowed and was quickly gone before I could explain. I could feel my anger rising, but I didn't want to cause a scene. Jasper Whitlock had no right to run off anyone that I may or may not be interested in.

I rounded on him, pushing his arm away. "What the hell was that all about?"

"What?"

"He was nice and you ran him off."

"Didn't you see the way he was looking at you? Like you were a piece of meat or something."

"So what is it to you if anyone looks at me like that?"

"Geez, sorry. I thought you might not want to deal with such a little short man like him. He was tiny. Little hands and everything." He laughed, looking at his own enormous appendages.

I narrowed my eyes at him and fought to gain control over my voice. He had made it obvious that he didn't want me and now he was cock blocking my chances with someone else.

"Let's get one thing straight Jasper Whitlock, you are not responsible for who I choose to 'deal with', little hands or not. You had your chance and you decided that I wasn't good enough for you. Because Emmett hired you, your only job is my security and if it were left up to me you wouldn't even have that responsibility." I turned on my heel and walked away.

He tried to follow me, calling out after me even, but because of the crowd he was unable to maneuver through the crush of people. I dug my phone out of my purse and sent Rose a quick text telling her I was leaving. I had to get out of there before I fell to pieces in front of Jasper and a room full of strangers.

I stood outside of the gallery for a second, trying to regulate my breathing and decide what to do. I turned right, headed for the subway, safety be damned.

I didn't realize how alone a person could feel in a city with so many people. I walked for what seemed like forever deciding not to take the subway after all. There were too many people waiting on the platform and my nerves couldn't take being that close to complete strangers.

I had started to berate myself for my stupidity, being alone in the dark on the streets of New York when I heard footsteps behind me. I sped up a little, eager to get off of the sparsely populated side street and back to the hustle of one of the major streets. Surly no one would attack me on a semi crowded street. Right?

I debated on whether or not it was wise to turn around and confront the person walking behind me. I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but I didn't want to be a victim again either. My mind and body couldn't take that a second time. So instead I checked my purse, fingers closing in around my trusty tire-slashing switchblade. If it came down to it, I was not going down without a knife fight.

My heart was pumping wildly and my breathing was starting to labor. This was not the time for an asthma attack. I centered my thoughts and mentally calmed myself the way Jasper had shown me. Just thinking about him made me want to cry. It was stupid of me to just leave like that, like a spoiled bratty bitch. How can someone so smart keep doing such stupid things? And now I was going to possibly pay for my stupidity.

I was in a familiar part of town and I could see the cross section of streets just ahead. I knew that the McCarty building was just about a block away and if I could make it there then the night security team could get me home safely. So I sped up again, almost in a full sprint when I was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Where do you think you're going?" The steel voice said.

I screamed.

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you think will happen next? Are you still certain that Rose is Em's mystery woman? What do you think about Rose and Bella's conversation while shopping? What do you think Bella found on Rose's nightstand? Some have said that they think that bad boy Eddie is hot ;}, some say that he's scary. What do the rest of you think? C'mon, let me hear your thoughts!**

**I'm on Facebook as: Twolipps Writes Fanfiction! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**Okay guys, I have recently developed a serious case of writer's block and I have stressed and stressed about this chapter (so please be kind). We needed to learn a few things about Emmett and Bella's past that is explained below.**

**Remember: SM owns it!**

**Thanks Cullen818 for beta'ing this!**

**Thanks Feral (of the Feral and Ferla writing duo) for your help as well!**

**And thank you to all of you that have put my little fic on alert, to all of you who review and all of you that read!**

* * *

**BPOV**

I was screaming and punching and kicking my attacker. He released me and fell to his knees groaning in pain. I kicked him one more time for good measure just because it felt good and it was then when I realized who it was.

"What the fuck Jake?" I stood over him, hands on my hips and breathing hard.

"God Bella, when did you learn to punch like that?"

"Why the hell would you grab me from behind?"

He stood on shaky legs, bent over with his hands on his knees for support and breathing hard himself. "I think you broke my fucking ribs." He rubbed his side wincing.

"Serves your dumbass right." Embry, one of Jake's employees and best friends, said. "I told you not to approach her like that." He walked around his friend and held his arms out to me. I had known Embry almost as long as I had known Jake. I hesitated briefly before accepting the hug from Embry. "How's it going Bells?"

"Well, up until I was attacked by a seven foot giant I was doin' okay. Now I think my heart is in my shoes." I clutched my chest as if trying to hold on to my heart. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were at a bar down the street, but it got a little too rowdy in there even for us so we decided to just head home when guess who we see walkin' down the street by her lonesome." Jake said, standing up. "Where's your body guard?"

I looked away. "I don't know." I said softly, knowing that Jake was going to berate me for my stupidity.

Jake quirked an eyebrow at me. "You don't know?"

I sighed, looking down at my feet. "I kinda took off by myself." I mumbled.

"WHAT? Are you tryin' to get yourself killed?"

"Bells, that's not cool." Embry said. "What if it hadn't been us? What if –"

I cut him off. "I know, I know." I felt the tears forming and I didn't want to be standing on the street crying. "I just had to get away, but really, how many people get mugged twice in their lifetime? Jasper is just an extension of Emmett's over active imagination anyway." I argued.

Even as I said it I didn't fully believe it.

"Did you ever stop to think that those guys could come back for you because they didn't get what they wanted the first time?" Jake said. "Call Jasper. Now."

I pulled out my phone to dial his number but my battery was dead and the phone wouldn't even come on. "I don't know his number by heart."

"We're taking you home then." Jake said, hand on my elbow and already leading me to his car down the street.

When we got home Emmett wasn't there and I didn't want to sit around the house by myself crying and wallowing in self-pity. I knew that what I wanted to do would possibly get me thrown in jail, but at the moment I didn't care.

"Jake, will you go riding with me tonight?"

"What? Are you crazy or are you just walkin' around _outside_ of your mind? You don't have a license." He pointed out.

"I know, but I can't stay here and I just really need to get out for a while. Plus, it's late and no one will know." I threw in a pout for good measure and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

He stood in the foyer, hands on his hips looking down at me. Jake and I had been friends for a long time and he knew that when I was upset that all I really needed was to get away for a while to clear my head. I usually resorted to riding my bike and there were many times when he had joined me but since the whole suspended license thing I hadn't been able to ride and was itching for this opportunity.

He sighed. "Stop looking at me like that and go change. I'll tell Embry to take my car home. And you need to call Emmett." He called out to remind me as I flew up the stairs to change.

If I called Emmett then that would be another argument waiting to happen so I just agreed to be agreeing and ran up the stairs to change. A simple note on his desk would suffice.

I changed clothes, pulling on my motorcycle jacket and boots and we left the house on the Ducati, note forgotten, and stopped by his shop so that we could get his bike and helmet. I had no idea where we were going, I just knew that it needed to be somewhere other than where I was at the moment.

"You're going to jail."

"I can deal with three hots and a cot, free cable and weight lifting privileges." I joked.

"What's really going on Bells?"

"I just need to ride. You in or you out?" I didn't want him to feel forced into anything, but at the same time I wasn't just going to turn around and go back home either.

He sighed, pulling on his helmet. "You know I'm not gonna let you go off by yourself like this." He threw a leg over his bike and started it. "You lead, I'll follow. If the pigs get after us I'll lead them off of you long enough for you to get away."

It was around ten o'clock Sunday night and nothing on Sound Beach Avenue was open. All of the little shops and café's were closed. The only places still open were a few of the pubs and bars and the roar of the two engines were loud on the deserted streets.

I just needed a long stretch of road to ride on. I turned onto the ramp of I-95 and we went east toward Mystic Cove near Stonington. I could drive for hours headed that way.

It was about six o'clock the next morning when I made it back home. We had gotten to Mystic Cove and sat there for a few hours talking. I told Jake about Jasper and filled him in on the details of the Edward fiasco.

He said that he was grateful that I had come to my senses about the little prick and told me basically the same thing Rose had about Jasper. He made me promise to not be stranger and made sure that I was well on our property line before heading home himself.

Emmett was in the foyer rotunda pacing when I came through the kitchen to head upstairs. His expression went from relief at seeing me alive to complete fury. I didn't want to argue and I didn't want to fight. I just wanted to shower and get to work.

"What the fuck Bella? Where the hell have you been?"

I didn't answer.

"I get a call from Jasper at midnight, _fucking midnight_ Bella saying that you disappeared. That you took off in the middle of fuckin' New York City and just fucking left without a word. What the fuck were you thinking?"

I knew he was beside himself mad by the amounts of 'fucks' that he was throwing around. I still didn't answer him though.

"And on top of that you're driving around God knows where without a fucking drivers license? What if Swan had caught you?"

I must have been delirious from lack of sleep because thinking about Chief Swan chasing after me in his ancient police cruiser as I sped along the back roads of Sound Beach on my Ducatti made me smile. I was smiling before I could catch myself and that set Emmett off. He grabbed me by the tops of my arms and was shaking me.

"Damn you Bella, you think this is funny?"

His hands were biting into my arms despite the padding of the jacket. Emmett had never been this angry with me before and he was starting to really hurt and scare me.

"I made a fucking promise to her! I promised them both to keep you safe and you are fuckin' it up! I promised them, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

He was shaking me so hard that my head flopped back and forth and I was starting to loose my balance. Jasper was there in an instant pulling him off of me and holding him back when he tried to break free. I stood there stunned looking at his rage. Jasper yelled at me to go upstairs and I ran up them, taking them two at a time.

I slammed and locked my bedroom door. Even through the thick wood I could hear Emmett near screaming. My hands were shaking and it took several attempts to get the motorcycle jacket off. I left it in a heap on the bathroom floor and jumped in the shower.

After about two hours of being secluded in my room my stomach was starting to growl and I knew that I couldn't hide from him forever. I stuck my head out of the door and listened for any sound. I felt like I was twelve again sneaking around the house.

I wolfed down a sandwich that I made while hiding out in the pantry and was about to sneak back upstairs when Emmett caught up with me in the foyer rotunda again. His eyes were red and puffy and when he spoke he was near hoarse from yelling so loud earlier.

"We need to talk, please."

I hesitated, taking a step back.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." He held up his hands in surrender.

I followed him to his office where Jasper and Rose were standing at the window, looking out but not really seeing out. I kicked off my shoes and curled up on the sofa. Emmett perched on the edge of his desk, hands in his pockets.

He sighed a couple of times before starting.

"Before you were born I would sit for hours beside mom just to feel you kick. At nine years old I read everything that I could find about how babies were formed and what was happening week by week in the womb. I knew more than mom and dad together about _you_. Mom said that you were special because it meant that I would never be alone in this world like she was, like dad was. Neither of them had any siblings." He added the last part for the others.

"When you were born I was so happy because then I could see you, touch you, and smell you. Mom would wash you in strawberry baby wash. Everyday after school I would come home and read to you. Mom said that you would grow up to be a scientist because I always read sci-fi to you. You liked the Star Trek books the best. And when you were sleeping I would stroke your hair and the corners of your little mouth would turn up into a little smile for a brief moment. Dad would do the same thing, but you would never smile for him. I was the only one who could make you smile."

Silent tears were running down his face now. We were both crying. I had never heard any of this before and I was starting to feel like the hot pile of shit that I was.

"When mom started to get sick she began to make me promise that I would always look out for you. She said that as a man it was my responsibility to look out for women, but as your brother it was my _gift _to love you and protect you. The night she died she held us both for hours and she made me promise again before she took her last breath. Father made me promise the same thing to him a couple of days before he died."

Emmett then handed me ten ziplock bags, each with a letter inside. I read the first three and thought I was going to be sick. They were death threats. The first was dated the day I was released from the elevator closet and the last was dated Sunday, the day before. The same day I took off without a word.

He knelt down in front of me. "You are my sister, but I have loved you longer than you have been breathing and because of the fucked up hand we were dealt with our parents, at times I think of you as my daughter. I _cannot_ walk this earth without doing everything that I can to keep you safe and alive. All I ask is that you be agreeable, even if you hate me for the rest of your life."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't hate you. I could never hate you and I know that I shouldn't have just ran off like that last night."

He grabbed me again, this time in a bone-crushing hug. I didn't know how long we sat there, hugging and crying. I had been a bratty bitch and I apologized for worrying him. It was late and I noticed that Jasper and Rose had left us to ourselves hours earlier.

"Why were you smiling earlier?"

I thought for a moment about what he was asking. "Oh, I was thinking about Chief Swan and his two ton gut chasing after me like Smoky and the Bandit in that decrepit police cruiser of his and well, the image just made me laugh. I wasn't trying to make light of the situation I promise." He laughed and hugged me tighter. "I wasn't alone last night. Jake came with me."

He nodded. "He sent me a text around one this morning saying that you guys were in Mystic Cove. Don't be mad at him."

I had no right to be mad at Jake. He was looking out for me and my safety when I should have been. "I'm not, he was just being responsible." I sighed, looking at the letters. "Emmy, what are we going to do about these?" I picked up the little bags.

He sighed. "Jasper and I have been talking about it, and right now the only thing we know to do is to just make sure that you are not alone. I don't necessarily want the police involved, you know that Swan could give a damn and his po-dunk detectives wouldn't know how to handle this anyway."

I nodded.

"Bella listen, I know I probably should have shown these to you sooner, but I didn't want you to worry and I didn't expect it to go this far. You haven't read all of them, but they are pretty graphic and the last two show that this jerk off is watching you while you're in the city. He knew what shoe stores you were in yesterday. Jasper needs you to list all the people you know that might be threaten by your project."

"You know that's going to be almost impossible."

"I know, but it's a start. His brother Peter is ex FBI and Navy Seal. He's coming later this week to meet you. You have to give him as much information as possible."

"I'll try, but Emmett I'm working on several major projects right now."

"Well then list the people who would have dual interest. There has to be a connection somewhere."

I got up to leave the office. "Emmett, you aren't mad at Jasper are you? It wasn't his fault."

"I know, he told me that you two had an argument, but he didn't say what it was about. I think you should apologize to him and Rose too. They were both near frantic last night worried about you."

I nodded. I had make amends, and it wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Peter Whitlock arrived two days later in a big booming voice and laugh. He was the opposite of Jasper physically. Where Jasper was lean muscle, Peter was enormous muscle. He was taller than his brother and took up far more room girth wise than Jasper. He looked more like a linebacker in the NFL than an ex Navy Seal. I wondered how someone so big and boisterous could be stealth and quick and I felt like a little person between the two when they stood over me.

Peter asked me about my major projects and took notes while I talked. He interrupted frequently to remind me to speak in English whenever I would give technical terms or explanations. It was hard trying to sum up my projects in minutes rather than hours and I compiled the list of people who I thought would be interested in stealing my research or taking credit for work that I had done. It was as much information as I thought pertinent to the case but somehow felt that it still wasn't enough.

* * *

For the next couple of days I tried to avoid Jasper as much as possible. Even though I had apologized for my disappearing act, I still felt awkward around him. Not only had he rejected me I was also embarrassed at the way I acted at the gallery. I didn't want to get comfortable around him and forget how bad the rejection hurt. My heart couldn't take it again.

We had eventually come to some sort of silent agreement with each other. I was nowhere near as friendly to him as I had been, but at least I stopped treating him like a rent-a-cop. Each day held so many events that it had already seemed like our incident was weeks ago and not just days prior.

So I worked long hours and went to bed early. Instead of our late night Wii sessions I opted to read in my room or do research. Emmett never mentioned anything but just asked me if I were okay and suggested that maybe I needed to get away for the weekend. The suggestion was tempting, but then when I thought about going somewhere and the fact that if I did get away Jasper would have to go with me so I just told Emmett that I would think about it.

I went into work near paranoid of who could be watching me and from where. The letters were fresh in my mind and by lunch my nerves were shot from watching faces and actions and conjuring up scenes of how that faceless person would kill me.

I couldn't concentrate and jumped at every loud noise. Emmett noticed my jumpiness and suggested that I would probably do better if I worked from home. I refused, I was not going to allow someone to run me away from a place that I loved. Besides, I had no lab at home in which to blow stuff up in.

It was toward the end of the day as I was packing my workbag to leave when I got the phone call. Charlotte, my secretary put the call through and when I answered it was a manufactured voice that spoke three little words: _'You are dead'_. I dropped the phone and backed away from it like it was a snake. Jasper snatched it up yelling hello over and over but the line was already dead.

He immediately called the phone company to get a trace on the call, but with all of the phone lines that our offices shared within the ten floors it would take days to get the information. Emmett was not happy with that answer at all.

The next day went pretty much the same except I did decide to leave early and go home. I had to be at Edward's for the wine party that night and I needed to get my nerves in order before I had to deal with him and all of his foolishness. He had already called me three times before lunch to prep me for his family and the guest that he had invited.

There were wine aficionados and expert sommeliers as well as a few elite members of wine clubs from The City. He wanted me to be aware that there was a reporter from the New Yorker doing a cover story about him that would run in the next issue and that I had better be on my best behavior.

This was more of a formal affair than the previous party had been and the dress Rose picked out for me was again stunning. It was a cocktail dress in a deep eggplant color with a plunging neckline. I had a pair of strappy black four-inch heels and I wore my hair down and curled.

There was a knock on my bathroom door and Emmett came in. He looked upset and I stopped curling my hair and started confessing.

"I know I wasn't suppose to do it, and I didn't mean to, I just forgot. Honestly, please don't be mad."

"Bella what the hell are you talking about?"

"I went downstairs to that new café for lunch with Charlotte and Jasper wasn't with me. He didn't tell you?"

He shook his head smiling, and perched on the counter. "He knew where you were the whole time. I was on the phone with him when he was following you."

"He knew where I was?" I asked angrily. How soon I was to forget that I wasn't supposed to be hiding from him anyway.

"You're not exactly hard to follow, you just think you are. All those times you were trying to hide from him in the building, he knew the whole time."

"But-"

"Trust me, he knew." He waved that conversation away. "I came in here to tell you that I've got to move my Japan date up. Makimoto is not the most patient man and he needs me there Monday, which means I'll have to leave Friday morning."

"Oh, ok."

"Look, don't worry about anything. Jasper is here and Peter will be coming to stay from Sunday night on until I get back. You may have to get Angela to go to the grocery store again though, that guy eats everything in sight."

I put the curling iron down and hugged him. "I love you Emmy."

"I love you too Bells." He said wearily.

I pulled back from his embrace to look up at him. "What's going on?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, just a feelin' I got. I'm gonna go with you tonight."

"Should I call Edward and tell him?"

"No, I want to see his reaction to me just showing up. What's he gonna do, tell me I can't come in?"

We were en route to Edward's house when Jasper told Tyler to take a detour. Up until then I wasn't really paying attention to either of them or what was going on because I was answering emails on my iphone.

"Jazz." Emmett said, in a warning tone from the front seat.

"I see it man."

Jasper shifted in his seat beside me and kept turning to look out of the back window. He told Tyler to speed up and then slow down. I was just about to ask what the hell was going on when I saw Jasper reach under his jacket, hand coming to rest on the butt of his gun. At the same moment he yelled for Tyler to speed up, released my seatbelt and pushed me to the floor of the car covering me with his body.

I heard the roar of a car engine beside us, and felt the car being smashed into and pushed to one side by the other car. There were gunshots accompanied by the breaking of glass and Jasper was shooting out of the broken window. Our car was spinning out of control and Jasper was yelling.

* * *

**A/N: More action in the coming chapters (promise!)**

**What do you think will happen next?**

**I know some of you have started to dislike Emmett because he was being way too overprotective, but what do you think of him now? Does this explain a little of why he's the way he is with Bella? Or are you still hating on him?**

**Let me know what you think. Your thoughts and ideas help cure the writers block. Anything you tell me is appreciated!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**SM owns it!**

**Thanks Cullen818 and Feral for beating (literally) this into submission!**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reveiwed with suggestions and words of encouragement during my block. You have no idea how much that helps!**

**A little more action in this one...**

**

* * *

****BPOV**

I heard the roar of a car engine beside us, then felt the car being smashed into and pushed to one side by the other car. There were gunshots then breaking of glass and Jasper was shooting back out of the broken window. Our car was spinning out of control and Jasper was yelling at me to stay down while shouting directions at Tyler.

As suddenly as it started, it was all over. We had stopped in what I could only guess was a ditch given the incline of the car. Jasper was on the phone, talking at lighting speed and conferring with Emmett at the same time. He indicated that I was to stay down and I felt the slow lurch of the car moving again.

When we stopped again it wasn't at home as I had suspected, but Edward's house; it was closer to where we had ended up in the ditch. When we arrived he met us at the front of his house with a few men from his security team and from my position on the floor of the car I could hear him directing Tyler to pull around back into the garage. I was shaking and on the verge of a major panic attack when Jasper finally pulled me off the floor of the car.

"Wh-what's ha-happening?"

I took a step and nearly fell; Jasper caught me, scooped me up into his arms and quickly carried me into the house, through the back to a small room off the side of the kitchen. He sat me on a sofa, knelt in front of me and rubbed my shaking hands.

"It's okay. You're okay now," he kept repeating.

"What the hell just happened?" Edward demanded, hovering over Jasper's shoulder.

"Jasper?"

"I'm right here," he reassured me. "Masen step back." He said to Edward, before turning back to me. "Just clear your mind and focus on breathing. Relax your shoulders and your neck. Breathe slowly in through your nose."

"Mr. McCarty? Mr. Whitlock?" Tyler said, coming in through the side door; beckoning them to speak privately.

Emmett knelt down in front of me, draped his jacket across my shoulders and squeezed my hands. "We'll be right back Bells. Masen, watch her."

Edward was pacing and yanking on his hair. I could hear him saying 'not a good night for all this', and looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

My head was pounding and I was concentrating on calming my erratic breathing.

There were people were talking around me, but it sounded like I was in a well and I couldn't make out the words, hollow voices coming in and out.

"Listen Isabella," Edward said, through clenched teeth, coming to stand in front of me, "I've got a house full of people coming here tonight. You cut this shit out right now."

"Edward," I choked out, wheezing, "it's not that easy." I fumbled in my purse for my inhaler, before finally dumping its contents out on the small sofa next to me. I found it and used it twice, then held my breath and let the medicine settle in my lungs before I spoke. "I need…to go…home." I coughed and pounded on my chest. It felt wrong, like an elephant was sitting on it preventing me from getting a decent lung full of air. I used my inhaler again but the medicine wasn't working as it usually did.

"The hell you are." He snatched my purse away with one hand, grabbed my wrist with the other, hauling me upright and dragging me along behind him. "Get in that bathroom and fix your face. The _one_ job you have is to look pretty on my arm and you're fuckin' that up. You will not embarrass me tonight."

I struggled in his grasp, but couldn't push him away. "You're…hurting…me Edward." I wheezed. "We… run…off…road…and I…barely…breathe." I was coughing, sputtering and gasping for air.

He shoved me against a wall, still holding tightly to my wrist and starting to twist it. "Do I need to remind you of our little agreement Isabella? Do you know how important tonight is?" he demanded, shaking me.

I fought against his hold. "Get off!" I managed to get one lung full of unobstructed air before I slapped him.

The last thing I remember was screaming, trying to fight him off and falling to the ground just as my world went black.

**

* * *

****JPOV**

I was sitting in the back seat of the BMW with Bella trying to keep my eyes off of her legs and my mind on my job. I didn't feel good about going out tonight. Bella had been a bundle of nerves ever since she had found out about the death threats. She literally had been jumping at every loud noise and shying away from me every time I stepped into the same room as her.

While I was positive that the physical attraction that we shared was still there, we were out of sync mentally with each other and I didn't like it. I could usually predict her actions and emotions but now it was like she had cut me off. I was amazed at how well she had trained herself to cut certain emotions off when she felt threatened; yet at the time allow other emotions to come through.

She was busy answering emails on her phone when I saw the car behind us following at a not so discreet distance. Emmett saw it too and we were both on alert. I gave Tyler instructions on which route to take and sure enough the car remained behind us the whole way.

I saw the car speed up and I knew that the driver was going to attempt to push us off the road. I yelled directions at Tyler and then pushed Bella to the floor of the car just as the dark blue sedan collided with the side of the BMW.

The driver began shooting at us and continued to smash into our car with theirs. I returned fire but it was useless; the bullets bounced off the blue sedan windows like tiny pebbles hitting glass. Whoever was after us had bulletproof windows.

And then as suddenly as it had started, it ended. The car had swerved across the road and Tyler had managed to keep us from flipping over, coming to a stop half way on the road and halfway into a ditch. I thanked the heavens above that the hours I had spent with Tyler in my own Crown Vic teaching him how to drive defensively in cases such as this paid off. Bella hated that car, hell, I hated that car, but it's not like I could teach Tyler how to drive like that in my Mercedes.

For the moment we were all alive, but I knew in order to remain that way we needed to get off the street. My first priority was to make sure that Bella was unharmed and to do that we had to get her somewhere reasonably safe. Sitting halfway in the ditch exposed like a lame duck was only asking for more trouble should the killer come back to finish what had been started.

The next thing I did was to call Peter. Since Bella's stalker had verbally contacted her at work the day before, we had agreed that he would come out to Sound Beach a few days earlier than planned. He was already in transit from my loft in the City to Sound Beach and I wanted him to meet us at the Masen estate instead.

I could hear Emmett talking to Edward and trying to update him on what had just happened. Bella was still curled on the floor of the car shaking and trying to tamp down her rising panic attack when we pulled through the gates of the Masen estate.

When I pulled her tiny body off of the floor of the car she wobbled and nearly fell. I picked her up in my arms and carried her inside despite the disapproving glares I was getting from Dickheadward. He obviously didn't like the fact that it was me she was clinging to but I could care less. Bella was mine to protect and he could go suck it for all that I cared.

She wasn't breathing well at all and I could tell that this was different than before. Masen was hovering over my shoulder, crowding her space while I was trying to get her to focus on her breathing and it was starting to piss me off. I told him to back up just as Tyler called to speak with Emmett and I.

I didn't agree with Emmett, telling Masen to watch her while we spoke with Tyler, but it was his decision and it was not _yet_ my place to usurp him when it came to Bella. We stepped out of the small room into the hallway to converse with Tyler.

I had charged him with securing the video footage of the reverse backup camera on the BMW. Those types of cameras usually only worked if the car was backing up, but with a little tampering, I was able to get it to record what was behind us while we were moving forward. If there was anyway to identify who the driver of the other car was then I needed that information as soon as possible. Tyler was explaining to us how badly the car was damaged and what he recalled from the incident when I heard Bella's raspy scream.

I burst back into the room just in time to see Masen with his hands on her, fling her to the ground like a rag doll. I couldn't even begin to explain the emotions that went through me at the sight of her crumpled body on the floor at Masen's feet and I reacted before any intelligent thought could halter my movements.

I had my hands around his neck, choking him and slamming his head into the drywall before it even registered to me that I was no doubt going to die for my actions. I vaguely heard Emmett in the foreground yelling and pleading with Bella to wake up and breathe while shouting instructions at Tyler to call an ambulance.

"Jazz…"

It was the one word that distracted me. Bella spoke my name and the split second it took to look over at her was enough time for Edward to slip out of my hands and kick me off of him. I stumbled backward and fell into a side table, knocking off the lamp.

He was on me in an instant, straddling my chest and punching me. There was no way that I was going to let this fucker just beat me, so in a very uncharacteristic move, I grabbed a hand full of that fuckin' hair he liked to run his fingers through so much, and yanked as hard as I could. I succeed in pulling him off of me and when I retracted my hand I had a clump of that red-brown shit tangled around my fingers. It was a girl fight move I know, but it worked so I didn't give a damn.

I scrambled up then fell into his face with my fist. We overturned another side table, bookshelf and floor lamp. And just as I was about to really pound into him, I was pulled back by a massive set of arms.

Peter had his arms locked under mine and around my chest as I fought to free myself from him. Edward's uncle Alec had him locked in a similar fashion. Both men struggled to maintain a firm grip on us as we kicked and fought the air to get at one another.

"You will fucking die for this Whitlock!"

"Bring it you pansy ass motherfucker!" I shouted back, still struggling with Peter to release me. "Let me go! If you fuckin' touch her again-"

"Both of you shut up!" Alec screamed, tossing Edward to the side and coming to stand in the middle of us. Edward might have been the head of his family, but it was clear that he still respected his uncle's authority. He calmed down immediately. "Right now we need to focus on Isabella."

I turned my attention to Bella, where, with Tyler's help, Emmett was crouched over her administering CPR. Peter released me when he saw my concern for Bella and I dropped to the floor beside Emmett to assist him. He was doing chest compressions and gave the appearance of being calm but I saw his hands shaking as he pressed down on her chest.

"Ambulance?" I asked Tyler.

"On the way."

"Em, let me help," I offered, wanting to take over for him. I could see that he was tiring fast.

"No. I'm okay," he said stubbornly.

Bella's lips and face had a bluish tinge from the lack of oxygen and her wrist was swollen where Edward had yanked her around. I felt rage- not just from seeing her wrist, but also because while I had been kicking Edward's ass, she had been lying here struggling to breathe.

I was ashamed of the half assed job I was doing to protect her and could only hope that when she came through this that she didn't hate me for being so negligent.

"I would have done the same thing," Emmett said softly, between compressions as Tyler counted them out. He looked up at me briefly, seeming to read my mind. "She's going to be okay." He kept repeating that phrase over and over again; I was prayed that he was right.

The paramedics arrived within minutes and took over compressions before intubating her.

"I should be going with her, not him. She's _my_ fiancé," Edward protested, as Emmett and I made to climb into the Ambulance with her.

Emmett's calm exterior vanished as he stepped back out of the ambulance and grabbed Edward by the collar, lifting him several inches off of the ground. "This shit is over Edward. I won't allow it anymore. There is no more engagement, _real_ or _fake_."

When Emmett released Edward, he shoved him backwards, then turned and climbed back into the ambulance.

Edward stumbled but stayed upright. "Do you know who I am? I'm Edward fuckin' Masen, the man that just signed your death warrant McCarty."

Emmett hesitated, then pivoted like a NBA basketball player and punched Edward fuckin' Masen in the face. Edward fell backwards before dropping like a rock.

"Well I'm Emmett McCarty, bitch. Come near her or anyone else in my family again, and I will personally gut you like a pig."

This fucker was still yelling bullshit from the ground. "You will pay for this McCarty!"

"So be it Edward. So fuckin' be it."

**

* * *

****BPOV**

I stretched and rolled over. I knew it was morning even though the curtains were pulled and the blinds were closed. I was at home in my bed, but I couldn't remember how I had got there. Emmett was sitting by the bed, with his feet propped up on the edge. He was asleep and from the looks of it, he needed it. He hadn't shaved and there were dark circles under his eyes.

The door opened and Jasper came in. He looked like he had been up for several days as well but smiled when he saw that I was awake.

"Hi."

"Hi," I croaked out. My throat felt like road rash and I noticed my wrist was in a purple plaster cast.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired," I whispered; it didn't hurt as bad when I spoke that way. "How long have I been asleep?"

"You've been in and out for about eighteen hours now," he answered.

I searched my memory for plausible reasons for what happened on but came up empty. The last thing I remembered was slapping Edward. "What happened?"

He sighed and recounted the events of the prior night. We had been shot at and run off the road. We ended up at Edward's house because it was closer and I had an asthma attack and passed out. I had been taken to the hospital where they gave me a breathing treatment and after Emmett had insisted that I be brought home. He had a fear of hospitals and I knew he would not have me in one if he knew a doctor that would make house calls.

I sat up against the headboard, and pulled the covers up to my chest. "So what does this mean now?"

Emmett had awakened during Jasper's explanation of events and he and Jasper exchanged knowing looks. I looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Nothing happens now. We carry on just like we have been. The only difference is that since this all happened on a city road, the Police department sent out a couple of their detectives to file a report, but well, you know how _that_ is, and how _they_ are," Emmett said.

"Could you even see who was in the car?" I asked.

Jasper sighed heavily and shook his head. "No, the windows were blacked out and he was wearing some sort of mask to cover his head." He sat at the edge of the bed, running his fingers over the satin piping on the blanket.

There was something that neither one of them was telling me and I could almost bet it had something to do with the fact that Jasper's face looked like it had met the front grill of a Mack truck.

"What are you two not telling me and why does your face look like that? And what happened to my wrist?"

Jasper started to speak, but Emmett stopped him. "Edward will no longer be in the picture. It's over."

At hearing Edward's name I should have been happy at that statement. I should have jumped up and danced a jig, but all it made me want to do was vomit- and that's exactly what I did. My stomach was empty, so all I managed was a few dry heaves into the trashcan by the bed. Jasper held my hair out of the way and rubbed soothing circles on my back.

"That was not the reaction I was expecting," Emmett said, smiling. "I thought you'd be up dancing around."

"He's going to kill you," I whispered. There was nothing to smile about and I didn't like the fact that Emmett was taking all of this so lightly.

Jasper shook his head. "He's a punk bitch and I would like to see him try."

"He said that he would," I protested, my eyes brimming with tears. "He said that I wouldn't be able to identify the bodies." Fat tears rolled down my cheeks, but I was too exhausted to wipe them away. Jasper pulled a few Kleenex from the box on the bedside table, and softly dabbed at them. "How can you just joke around like this?"

"When did he tell you this?" Emmett asked.

"That night of the charity ball. He said that if I didn't play my part in this well enough that he would make sure all of you paid."

Emmett stood and paced the floor in front of my bed. "I wish you would have told me about this sooner Bells."

"He told me not to. "

Emmett nodded, continuing to pace. "I don't want you to overly worry about this. I know how serious it is and I'll take care of it."

"But –"

He cut me off. "I think it's time for your medicine and you're due for another breathing treatment. I'll go get it, but then you have to rest Bells." He turned for the door, speaking over his shoulder. "Carlisle said that you need to stay in bed for at least another day. You set the machine up Jasper and I'll go get the medicine."

Jasper squeezed my good hand. "It's gonna be okay B. Em's right, you don't need worry."

I looked down at the cast. "Edward did this?"

He looked down at the cast and nodded. "A hairline fracture, Carlisle said that it should heal very quickly."

I touched his swollen nose. "And your face, you fought him over it?"

He touched my face in return, his palm cupping my cheek and wiping my tears with his thumb. "Yes, I fought him over it." He leaned in and kissed my cheek, then whispered in my ear, "and he will never touch you again if I can help it."

"Jasper-"

We both turned at the sound of glass breaking and a series of loud crashes coming from somewhere in the house.

"Stay here." Jasper ordered, running for the door.

The hell I was going to stay put with all of that commotion going on in my own house. I followed after Jasper, moving extremely slow and holding onto the furniture and stair rail as I went.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs Peter was coming into the main house from the pool house, hand on weapon; apparently to ascertain what was making all of the noise. We both heard yelling from the direction of Emmett's office and took off that way with him leading while I stayed at a safe distance behind.

Jasper stood in the doorway of the office, not moving and not speaking. Emmett was in the process of tearing his office apart; he had so far overturned the desk and chairs, broken the mirrors and pictures on the wall and ripped most of the books off of the shelves.

Emmett was not an overly emotional man. I think I had personally witnessed him crying only a handful of times in my life, one of which had only happened a few days prior. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the stress from all of the fuckery that we had been experiencing had finally gotten to him.

He stood in the middle of his destroyed office-with his back to us- hands on his hips panting hard, and staring up at the ceiling. I tried to step around Jasper, but he held me back.

"There's glass on the floor." He pointed to the scattered glass and then down to my bare feet.

"Emmy?"

"I'm okay Bells," Emmett spoke softly, turning slightly to the side to see us. "Go on back to bed." He ran his fingers through his hair, roughly scratching his scalp.

"Let me in," I whispered. I wasn't asking permission to enter the office; I was reaching out to him to lend my emotional support.

Funny how I can give it, but I can't seem to receive it.

He turned, took two steps toward me, wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me in a hug. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he kept repeating softly in Italian.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. "It's okay Em. We're okay, I'm okay."

"I fucked up Bells. I should have shut him down when you came home with that damn ring. I shouldn't have let it go this far." Emmett was rambling, repeating his apologies in parts of two languages and holding on to me as if he were afraid that I would somehow disappear. " I thought I was doing the right thing. He use to love you so much and I thought that if he still loved you like he use to, he would never hurt you. I'm sorry. I failed you."

I reassured him with my words, telling him that we were going to be okay and that I knew that he was looking out for my best interest. There had been times over the last few weeks that I had been outraged at some of the decisions that Emmett had made regarding the Edward situation but that did not make me love him any less.

For years Rose and I had both depended on Emmett as our guide and protector. He was the one we turned to for advice, for companionship and it was to him that we looked to for approval. He had unselfishly been _everything_ to us even when we didn't realize that we needed someone. He always did what he felt was best for all people involved, even when it meant that he had suffer.

And then I realized that there had never been some one for _him_ to look to. _He_ had no guide, no protector, and no sounding board for when things got hairy. So I understood why he felt like he failed me when that was the furthest thing from my mind, and the truth.

Emmett carried me into the hallway and released me once clear of the broken glass. I wiped his tears away with my fingers. "I love you Em, and you were right about all of it. You did what you thought was right. Don't ever be sorry for that."

"He'll never hurt you again." He touched my purple wrist cast. "I promise you that I will kill him first."

"You can borrow my shiv anytime," Rose said, coming in from some other part of the house, and draping her arms across our shoulders.

Emmett laughed, kissed her forehead and pulled her closer into our little circle. "I may take you up on that offer."

* * *

Things were pretty quite for the next few weeks. Emmett postponed his trip to Japan, sending one of his senior associates in his stead. He was not willing to be on the other side of the globe should Edward attempt any more drama.

My recovery from the asthma attack was taking longer than I had expected and I ended up working from home for nearly two weeks. Carlisle was still reluctant to release me from his care but when he saw that not only was I literally about to go crazy being trapped in the house, but that Emmett was about to strangle me from nagging him to death, he agreed to let me go back to work, on half day status only.

Being trapped in the house for two weeks was an interesting feat of patience not only for me, but also for those around me. The first week was easy, Jasper waited on me hand and foot. It seemed that all of my previous reservations about getting close to him went out of the window when given the option of either solitary confinement, or sharing my confinement with a very sexy nurse.

My ribs and sternum were still bruised and sore from the force Emmett used when performing CPR on me, so all strenuous activities were out of the question. We spent the mornings doing either Pilates or yoga, the afternoons taking slow walks around the estate and down by the river or lightly digging in my flower and herb gardens.

The evenings were perhaps my favorite as we would either curl up in the library and read to each other, watch movies with Rose, Peter, Char and Emmett or simply try out new recipes in the kitchen that we had gotten off of the Food Network.

The second week of my confinement was the real test. Whichever doctor said that it is impossible for men to have PMS lied. Rose, Charlotte –who was now apart of our group since the first day she had met Peter- and I squared off against the men on several occasions as we attempted to push the geographical boundaries that they had set for us.

We were shot down repeatedly at our proposed outings to shop in the city, to attend movies in the park or even to eat out at a pub in our small downtown area. And because I had promised Emmett that I was going to be agreeable to his wishes about my safety, I could only push his limits so far before he guilt tripped me into submission.

While I understood that Emmett was being especially careful after the whole Edward situation, he still needed to let us relax and not treat us like prisoners in our own home. Rose threatened to throw a coup towards the end of the second week and Emmett finally relented and agreed to go out with us to a club in the city.

"So, what's with you and Petey?" Rose asked Charlotte, primping in the mirror.

Charlotte blushed and masked the semi smile that threatened to form on her lips. "I don't know what you mean Rosie dear."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You can't fool me whore, spill it."

"I swear upon all things holy that there's nothing going on."

I snorted. "Just because there's nothing going on _now,_ doesn't mean that you don't want it to."

Charlotte gasped in mock surprise. "Isabella McCarty, you take that back."

I grinned at her in the mirror. "Tell me I'm wrong. I see the way you drool after him."

"You mean kinda like how you're drooling after Jazzy-pooh!"

"That ship has sailed and sunk Rosalie Hale." I finished with the mascara and dropped the wan back into my makeup bag.

"Whateva! You bitches have got it bad. B-A-D!"

"Sure Rosalie-I'll-hump-anything-with-two-legs-oh-HALE-yeah!" Charlotte remarked. "_We're_ the ones that have it bad."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked, hands on hips.

Charlotte didn't explain, she just snorted and went back to curling her hair. Char had approached me one day over lunch with her speculations that Rose and Emmett had a little 'sumthin' sumthin'' going on but because Rose had not confirmed or denied it herself I didn't want to fuel Char's suspicions. I suspected it too, but kept my thoughts to myself.

"Hey ladies," Jasper said, sticking his head around the bathroom door, "let's go already."

Emmett was pacing the foyer floor with a worried look when we came down the stairs. He pulled me to the side while Rose and Char continued primping in the hallway mirror.

"What's wrong Em? You cannot back out on this tonight. You promised –"

"I'm not backing out," he interrupted me, "Eric called me from Japan. It's not going well. Makimoto is not pleased with the terms of the merger and I have to go smooth things over."

"When?"

"I'll leave in a week."

I hugged him and went to the mirror for one last check. "It'll be okay I'm sure, you just have to lay your Midas touch on the deal."

He ran his fingers through his hair. "I want you to go with me."

I laughed at him. "Are you crazy? This merger has nothing to do with my side of the business. What would I do in Japan?"

"Shop, eat, shop some more. I don't care, at least you'll be safe."

"Umm, I'm safe here, with Jasper. Remember?" I pointed out.

"Bells, listen to me. We-"

It was my turn to interrupt him. "You asked me to be agreeable. I am doing my best. But I do not want to spend sixteen hours on an airplane to go shop and eat somewhere when I can do that here. I've been to Japan before. I'm not missin' much."

"Dammit Bells-"

"Hey guys, let's just talk about this later. It's time to P-A-R-T-Y!" Rose shouted pushing us out of the door.

There was a line wrapped around the building when we arrived at the club. It was a popular nightspot that Rose and I had frequented when we were on breaks from school during our college years. The doorman was still the same and let us in immediately much to the chagrin of those that had been waiting for hours in the cool evening air.

The music was loud, and it didn't take long before guys, all vying for our attention, surrounded Rose, Char and me. It was a welcomed reprieve to just dance and not be worried about who might be lurking in the shadows waiting to off me. And tonight was special; it was my celebration of freedom from Edward.

For the next few days Emmett and I went round and round about his trip to Japan. I had already missed enough of work and I was not keen on the idea of missing two more weeks. We still had not seen or heard anything from either Edward or my stalker, and so with this information alone I won my case against Emmett. As long as I agreed to submit to whatever Jasper and Peter decided was in my best interest safety wise, then he reluctantly acquiesced to let me be.

On Sunday morning Emmett made me promise, again, to not do anything stupid while he was gone before he said goodbye. Tyler drove him to the airport while Jasper drove Rose and I to the city to meet Char for some therapeutic shopping.

For the next couple of days Jasper and I resumed our easy routine of work, cooking and video games. Rose joined us when she could, but had recently been commissioned to make a sculpture for a popular breast cancer charity auction. So she spent many nights at her studio in the city. On those nights Peter would stay over with her, and it became the custom for Char to join them for dinner.

It was sometime during the middle of the night of the fourth night since Emmett left that I woke up feeling a hand over my mouth. I panicked and immediately started fighting.

"Bella," the voice whispered, "calm down it's just me."

"What the hell Jasper?"

"SHHHH! Someone is sneaking around the house outside."

I was fully awake now. "What? Where?"

He pulled the bed covers back and his hands were on my arms hurrying me out of bed. "Listen to me." He shook me a little to make me pay proper attention to him. "I need you to go to the panic room." He led me out of my bedroom and down the hall. "Get on the floor all the way to the back. Lock the door and do not come out until I knock three times. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

"It's probably nothing."

"B-but it's too s-small." I squeaked out, pointing at the room.

The panic room was a small ten-by-ten windowless room with six-inch reinforced concrete walls. On one side of the room there was a self with TV monitors that supplied a video visual around the perimeter of the house. There was also a toilet, a small refrigerator, a locker with prepackaged food and water and basic survival items. I had only been in the room once right after the contractors had finished refurbishing it and had not wanted to go back in. Thoughts of being in that tiny room alone was enough to make me panic.

"I know, but trust me that everything's gonna to be okay. I won't be gone long. Turn on the monitors. I'll knock three times and say the safe word, okay? Do you remember what it is?"

"Yes, it's popcorn."

He was pushing me toward the room and I saw him drawing his gun. He kissed my forehead before closing the door. I did as he told me, going to the back of the panic room and getting on the floor feeling helpless. I needed a weapon and looked around me. Emmett's old baseball bat was in the corner.

I didn't know why it was in the panic room but was grateful that it was. I picked it up and took a few swings with it, testing the weight and calculating how much force to use by where I would place my hands. Physics always calmed me down. I would have a bit of difficulty with it because of the cast, but I figured that if push came to shove, a broken wrist was nothing compared to my life ending. Satisfied that I had the correct grip on my new weapon I crouched in the corner of the room again, waiting.

I don't know how long I was in the panic room. I hadn't even looked at the clock when Jasper had awakened me. It seemed like forever and all I could think about was Jasper being killed and the last thing I felt was his soft lips on my forehead. It would be the last time I would ever see him again and I had been too chicken shit to tell him how I really felt.

The monitors had shown nothing out of the ordinary and I had almost worked up the nerve to defy his orders and open the door to go find him when I heard the three knocks and the safe word.

I rushed to the door throwing it open and practically jumped into Jasper's arms. He caught me and held me tight, murmuring in my ear that he was okay and that everything was going to be all right. He walked with me clinging to him down the hallway to my bedroom.

"Did you see who it was? How many of them were there?"

"No, I didn't get a look at his face. Once he saw me he took off across the yard. I do think it was just a burglar though."

"What makes you say that?"

"He dropped his sack, and it had your regular run of the mill burglar tools in it. He probably thought that since Emmett was gone that you were too." He started rubbing my ice-cold hands. "Bella, it's okay. You're safe, I'm safe. Everything's good."

"I know." I said softly, looking down at my feet.

"I called the police though. If it were just a burglar then they need to know that one is in the community. They said that someone would be out within the next twenty-four hours."

He hugged me again and I noticed for the first time that he didn't have a shirt on, just jeans and an old pair of cowboy boots that he had apparently crammed his feet into on the way out the door. His chest was warm despite the cool September night air and I snuggled closer, aching to run my palms over his perfect pectorals and pert nipples. I could feel his heart beating against my ear and silently wished that the fast pace that it was beating was because of me and our proximity to each other. He leaned back a little but didn't let go.

"Bella, I-"

So this was it? Rejected again even when I wasn't expecting anything more than a little bit of comfort after being locked in a tiny windowless room. I pulled away from him before he had a chance to say the words.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

He cut my sentence off with a kiss. And the first thing that I notice was that there was no hesitation from him. He responded urgently, hands twisting in my hair and turning my head for better access to my mouth. This kiss was different than before because this time we were sober and this time we were not just acting on instinct but were fully aware of what we were doing.

And then he said those three glorious words:

"I want you."

* * *

**A/N: Hmmm....I wonder what's going to happen next? ;} Any ideas or suggestions? Anyone thirsty? Need a little LEMONade? I hope you liked this one so let me know what you're thinking!**

**I want you guys to know that sometimes even the smallest little suggestion helps with the writing process and has me scrambling back to my rough draft to change or improve or expound on an idea or scene. **

**I even appreciate the PM's telling me that my commas are in the wrong place. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 12**

******Of course this would be nothing without my beta's: Cullen818 and JamesRamsey, who both have written amazing fics and know how to twist a lemon! They both have given this their Citrus Stamp of Approval! Please run and check them out. **

**I'm a bit nervous about this one. But some lovely (ho0rish ;} ) gals over on Facebook provided lots and lots of Robporn and all other things steamy and dirty for inspiration to get the words right on this one. Namely, BlackHale (on FFN as BlackHale82). I promised her that my first lemon A/N would be dedicated to her. So all hail BlackHale! She is one very dirty girl! Go check out her fic!**

**Okay, so I've been told that writing your first lemon is like loosing your virginity. Please be gentle...**

**SM does not let them do what they are about to do here! ;)

* * *

****BPOV**

He cut my sentence off with a kiss. And the first thing that I noticed was that there was no hesitation from him. He responded urgently, hands twisting in my hair and turning my head for better access to my mouth. This kiss was different than before; because this time we were sober and this time we were not just acting on instinct but we were fully aware of what we were doing and hopefully about to do.

And then he said those three glorious words:

"I want you."

I had never heard those words directed at me before and I took a second to absorb each syllable, and to memorize his voice inflection when he said it. Our future together was uncertain, so I needed these simple morsels of verbal affection to wrap around my heart when I felt the loneliness threatening to take over. When all was said and done at least I would have that.

I pulled him down to the bed on top of me never loosing contact with his lips. His hand ran up my thigh, hitching my right leg around his waist. His erection was pleasantly pressing against me and I was eager to feel him inside of me. My fingers found the button and zipper of his jeans; I undid both, pushing the waistband of them down enough to slip one hand inside.

Holy shit Batman, Walkin' Tall was going commando! And wait one freakin' minute, my fingers didn't even touch when wrapped around him! How the hell did he even fit all of this into his pants? I vaguely wondered when and where the last time I had seen the Tylenol; I was definitely going to be sore in the morning.

"Holy fuck," he panted, eyes closed, "don't stop."

Nervously, I moved my hand wanting to feel all of him; if it were even possible I think he got bigger. His hands and mouth were everywhere on my body; this was not the pleasantly agonizing slow pace that I had imagined in my dreams. This was carnal lust in overdrive, and I struggled a bit trying to keep pace with all of the emotions and sensations that ran through my body.

He thrust his hips in sync to my hand movements; trailing open mouth kisses down my neck, and across my collarbones, before yanking down the thin straps of my nightgown as he moved lower. I prayed that what I was doing to him felt half as good as what he was doing to me.

"Jasper please," I begged for more, as his fingers found one nipple and his mouth the other. He bit and sucked one while pinching and rolling the other between his fingers. "Too many clothes," I panted. My back arched off of the bed, grinding upward. He groaned, grinding right back into me.

Apparently he agreed because he was pulling off my thin nightgown, then ripped the little lace panties I had on underneath. I was completely naked and he still had his jeans and boots on. One look at those ruggedly sexy cowboy boots and I could feel my arousal pooling on the sheets beneath me. As bad as I wanted him to keep those boots on, the desire to have his pants off came first.

I nudged the top of his pants down further and he pulled back just long enough to secure the gun under the bed, then toe the boots off and kick out of his jeans.

He crawled up my body; lips' trailing kisses up my thighs, then across my hipbones; completely bypassing where I needed him the most. I squirmed in attempt to rub my thighs together for friction, but he gently held my legs apart.

His lips hovered over mine. "Not yet baby, I wanna taste you first and then I'm going to fuck you. Understand?"

_Finally! Thank you dear Lord!_

I nodded, not being able to find my voice.

He kissed me quickly and headed south once again. At the first intrusion of his fingers my head fell back, verbally thanking and praising God.

"Is that it baby?" He asked, toying with my clit, knowing that that was indeed the correct spot and that there was no way on earth that I could respond to his question. "Is this where you want me?" His fingers spread me and his tongue licked me. I whimpered, begging for more.

He complied, working my clit with his tongue and gently probing my entrance with is fingers. Within seconds I was coming, arching my back and bucking off the bed, and he hadn't even achieved full finger penetration yet!

It was the most amazing thing I had ever felt and I was eager for him to do it again.

He looked up at me grinning, mouth still hovering over my dripping wet pussy. "Hold on baby, I'm coming inside you."

He kissed his way back up while I lay there panting, trying to remember how to breathe. I'm sure this was definitely not what Carlisle had in mind when he prescribed breathing exercises for me. His mouth tasted like me, sweet and salty at the same time; I greedily sucked his lips as the tip of his dick played at my entrance. He retreated, smiling down at me.

"Do you want me?"

"Yes," I panted, "I want you to fuck me." I felt the need to be thorough in my explanation of what I wanted from him.

He rested his weight on his forearms on either side of my head and kissed me again, long and deep. His hips moved and he thrust himself inside of me to the root. I screamed, not in pleasure, but in pain. He felt it and didn't move again. I was moving, pulling my hips away from him, and pushing on his shoulders trying to escape the pain.

In high school I had heard the stories girls told of how their boyfriends had taken their virginity. They had all said how much it had hurt, but I never really believed them, until now.

"Oh God, don't move. Stop, please." His face was screwed tight, concentrating. Tears ran down the sides of my face. He opened his eyes looking down at me. "Baby, I'm going to come out now, just don't move okay."

I panicked again. I didn't want him to leave me. I wanted, needed this connection with him. "No, don't leave me," I pleaded with him.

"I'll be right here, I won't leave I promise. I'm just going to pull out slowly okay. Y-you gotta stop moving."

He tried kissing me but I pulled away. "No, finish."

"Baby, we can't. I'm already tearing you."

"No." I wrapped my legs around him and arch my hips bringing him back into me. It hurt a little less that time. Okay, I'm lying. That shit hurt like hell, but what was worse was the emotional pain I would have to deal with if he left me. "Don't leave me. I'll be okay."

"I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"You could never hurt me."

I kissed him and moved my hips again to reassure him, not sure if what I was doing was right. It must have been because he responded ever so slowly thrusting and intensely watching my face for any sign of pain or a signal to stop. At one point he stopped to kiss me so tenderly and so thoroughly that I wanted to cry again. And then he began moving, a steady rhythm of deep thrusting that made me cum, wailing out his name as tears ran down the sides of my face.

**

* * *

**

**JPOV**

When I knocked on that panic room door she launched herself at me nearly knocking me down. Her little warm body was trembling with fear. I took her back to her room and sat her on the bed and held on to her, rubbing her back and murmuring reassurances in her ear. She relaxed as I told her what had happened.

Then she was looking at me in that knowing kind of way; I think my dick jumped and then I was on her, kissing her while she was pulling on me. I wanted her so bad; I was scared of screwing it up, but I was more afraid that she would think I didn't want her if I just abruptly stopped. We had been down that road once and I didn't want to go back. This was my moment to show her how I felt and I was not going to fuck it up again.

My hands were all over her sweet little ass and she was on fire in my arms. I wanted to be inside her and before I could even think past that, her little hand was down inside my pants around my dick. I saw her eyes nearly pop out; she wasn't expecting that at all. JW really wanted to come out to play. I think I cursed and begged her to not stop touching me.

She said something about too many clothes on; I agreed and all but ripped that flimsy thing she called a nightgown off of her. I did rip her panties off; that was fun. I wanted those winking nipples; they deserved a good sucking for winking and teasing me for so long. I paid them both their due homage and then she was moving under me trying to get my pants off.

I obliged, and kicked my boots and stripped off my pants. She had a whole expanse of un-kissed skin that needed some attention as I made my way north. I stopped long enough to tell her exactly what I was going to do to her. Once I started, I prayed that there would be no turning back and I wanted her fully prepared for me.

My thoughts and hands went lower and I felt her clit. She was soaking wet and the second I touched her she was almost about to come apart. I needed to taste her first, to see if that pussy was as sweet as I thought it would be.

Yup, it was sweeter and she came in just a few seconds, nearly bucking off the bed.

I desperately wanted to be buried deep inside her the next time she came, and so I taunted her at first, pressing my dick against her. I asked her if she wanted me. She didn't hesitate in telling me exactly what she wanted. She told me that she wanted me to fuck her, and that's all a man ever needs to hear; that's all that I had been dreaming about for months. This moment with my beautiful Bella was real, not a dream and definitely not my morning jacking off fantasy.

I kissed her long and deep and then slammed into her.

Immediately I knew what was wrong. She was way too tight and the scream was wrong. It wasn't a please do it again scream, it was get the fuck off me scream. I was trying not to panic, but my brain wasn't working right to figure out what to do next. I had just rammed my dick into the woman I loved, not only shredding her innocence, but also effectively ripping my heart in two. _She _was my heart, _she_ was my soul and if she hurt, I hurt.

This was so much more than just taking her virginity. I had been entrusted with her safety, her very well being and I had just carelessly thrown that out the door for a few fleeting moments of pleasure. She deserved so much more than me, and I felt like scum, lower than scum, for doing this to her. I was a fuckin' animal, a monster of the worst kind. No, even that description was too good for me. I was a parasite that attacked itself to its prey and sucked it dry. I had destroyed my pure Bella and hell would be to good for me.

She was moving, trying to get away and my brain knew this but of course my dick didn't. _He_ had a one-track mind and every time she moved my body instinctively wanted to as well. I had to switch which head I was thinking with and get back on track. My self- loathing could wait for another day. Right now I had to take care of my beautiful girl and pray that she didn't hate me when it was over.

I told her not to move, that I was going to come out so that I wouldn't hurt her, and she said 'no'. The same woman who was just screaming in pain was now begging me to not leave her. I wasn't going to _leave_ her; I just needed to stop _hurting_ her.

I tried to reason with her, but she wanted me to make love to her. My brain fought this, but my dick took over. _He's_ strong minded, that one. She wrapped those beautiful legs around me and started moving like she knew what she was doing, promising me that she was okay. I figured since her brother was going to castrate me anyway, I might as well attempt to give her what she wanted. What we both needed.

I kissed her again, willing her to forget the pain, and concentrate on how good it felt to be worshiped. I had screw up the beginning, but I would be damned if I fucked up the end. This was about her, and I kept mentally repeating that as we moved together; I felt some of her fear slipping away.

I reassure her with my touch, softly caressing her face then moving lower over her body trying to re-ignite some of her pervious fire. I watched her face for any sign that I was still hurting her, and although Bella thought she was a great actress, when it came to hiding her feelings the one thing that didn't lie were her eyes. The truth of what she was feeling always shone through them.

I _saw_ when what she was feeling went from extreme uncomfortableness to pleasure. To keep her relaxed and focused on the pleasure I reassured her with my words. "God you feel so fuckin' good, you're so tight around me." All of it was the truth. I had died and gone to pussy heaven. "Please, cum with me." I whispered in her ear, sucking on her neck. "Come on baby."

But then I realized that she probably didn't know _how_ to cum, especially with me inside of her. I knew that despite what the Hollywood movies portrayed and what best selling authors wrote, women just didn't cum when you told them to. Sometimes an orgasm occurs not only from physical stimulation, but mental stimulation as well. And because of the fucked up way I had just rammed into her, I wanted Bella's first time to be remembered for something other than that.

I brought my hand down between us and rubbed her clit, all while whispering loving endearments and how amazing I thought she was in her ear. She moaned and yelled out, this time I was certain that they were good sounds. I rubbed again, and felt her walls spasm around me. I pumped three more times and we were both cumming together; she milked me fuckin' dry.

I held her tightly while she came down off of her orgasm high. She buried her face into my neck softly crying. I felt like shit, scared that I had really hurt her but then I heard her laughing.

I pulled back to look down at her face. "What are you laughing at?" I asked, ego bruised.

She snorted and hooted some more. "You and your facial expressions." She screwed up her face, mimicking me.

Bella looked up at me with her big chocolate watery eyes and I knew she was okay. I kissed her quickly, told her to hold on and jumped up running to the bathroom. I turned on the faucet and jets of the large garden tub, letting it get hot. I poured some of her bath oil into the water, then went back and scooped her tiny body up off of the bed.

Her eyes widened in surprise when I slid into the tub behind her. I wasn't through worshipping her yet, and the tub was more than big enough for the two of us. I had seen the bloody spots on the sheets and I needed to make it better. I soaped her up, not letting her touch me; this was about her needs, not mine. I washed her breasts, liking the heavy feel of them in my hands and then moved lower, over her hips. I spread her legs and washed her soft tender parts with the sponge thing.

She shifted in my arms and kissed me, her tongue dancing slowly with my own. I felt JW stir against her back. He was like a heat seeking missile and her sweet pussy was apparently his new target. But there was no way I was letting him lead this time. I knew she was sore and I was not about to start something so soon after her first time.

She wiggled, evoking a gasp out of me and making her grin.

"Behave Jezebel. I'm supposed to be cleaning you up and pampering _you_."

"Jezebel?" Her eyes went wide in mock offense. "I'm pure and innocent, how can you call me Jezebel?"

"You _were_ pure and innocent," I said, and then the reality and especially the guilt of everything hit me all at once. "I fucked you like some two-dollar street whore. You deserved so much more. You should have had the deluxe Champagne package, not the seven-eleven convenience store grab bag version of sex."

It was out before I could stop it, verbal diarrhea, and she pulled away from me. I tore at the sponge thing in frustration. What started out as harmless teasing quickly turned my emotions and the situation sour. I was not sorry that we had sex; I was however upset by the way it had happened. She should have told me that she was a virgin. It wouldn't have stopped me, but I sure as hell would've changed my approach. "I didn't even use a condom," I whispered.

She looked up into my eyes. "I wanted this. And for me _this_ was perfect."

"How can you say that, you don't even have anything to compare it to?"

She stood up in the middle of the tub staring down at me, fist balled up at her sides. Water and soap suds ran in rivulets down her amazingly beautiful body and JW was doing the happy dance. I threatened him with ten years of abstinence if he didn't behave. He tucked his head and bowed down to Daddy.

"Jasper Whitlock, with all that you know about me what makes you think that I want, that I _need, _flowers and music and whatever else you're concocting in your stupid head?" She took a deep breath, causing her tits to push out. JW was begging me to let him at her. "All I need is you. All I _want_ is you," she said softly.

Bella was a master at numbers and equations and could spout facts and figures like Einstein, but when it came to expressing her personal feelings about a matter it took a little more prodding to get her to open up.

So looking at her now, voice trembling and hands now shaking; this was perhaps the most emotionally vulnerable that I had ever seen Bella. Even with all that we had already been through with the death threats, the shootings and then the car chase; I could tell that Bella had kept a part of herself from feeling those things. She hid and ran from them and never completely showed how she was feeling about them. But this was raw and open emotion; I needed to tread lightly.

I took her hand in mind, lacing my fingers through hers. "I'm yours, all of me." I gently tugged on her hand, wanting her to resume her position back in front of me so that I could finish pampering her, worshipping her beautiful body. But she did just what I wasn't expecting. She sat down _on_ me, straddling my lap.

She framed my face with her little hands and kissed me, teasing my tongue with her own and then nibbling on my bottom lip. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer, warning JW to behave. We sat like that for a while; her head resting on my shoulder, face in the crook of my neck, lost in the moment.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked her softly, playing with the wet strands of her hair clinging to her back.

I felt her shrug and snuggle closer to me, hands roaming over my sides and hips under the water.

"I thought if I told you then you wouldn't want me."

I laughed lightly. "Silly beautiful Bella, I've wanted you almost from the day I met you." I ran my hands up and down her back, eliciting low moans of pleasure from her. "How is it that you and –"

She put her hand over my mouth. "Don't say his name. He's not going to ruin our moment." Apparently she knew exactly what I was about to ask because she volunteered the answer. "_He_ is old fashioned in a lot of ways, that being one of them. We fell in love perhaps too fast and he was willing to wait. We were at different schools, always busy with our respective career goals, you know." She shrugged again. "So he said that when we got married that he would want that to be our first time."

"But surely he isn't…."

"I'm sure that he is not. I've never had proof, but I _know_ that there were others."

"What if-what if you-- I mean we didn't use--"

She pulled back to look up at me. "I'm not. When I was sixteen I developed endometriosis on my ovaries. I've been taking birth control ever since to regulate my periods."

"Does it hurt?"

"It use to, but the pill helps balance my hormones, so it doesn't bother me as much."

"Can you still get pregnant?"

She laughed. "Yeah, my lady parts are still fully functional, although it will be more difficult to actually impregnate me." Her hands were roaming under the water again. JW twitched against her thigh and caught her attention. I hissed when she wrapped her tiny hand around him. "After what we've just done isn't it a little late to ask?"

I groaned as she lightly stroked my now fully erect cock. "No. I take care of what's mine." I meant it, if what we had done resulted in creating a life it would be the best thing to ever happen to me. I would gladly take care of Bella and our child for the rest of forever. Just thinking about creating something so perfect with this beautiful woman made me want to impregnate her. To see Bella's stomach swollen with an extension of me, of us, would be my version of heaven on earth.

But, it was definitely too soon for her to be doing what she was suggesting she wanted to, do despite JW's dancing and twitching and roaring like a caged lion. "Bella," I warned.

"I want to." She placed kisses along my neck as the pace of her pumping increased.

I gritted my teeth to keep from shouting out my pleasure. She didn't need any more encouragement than what JW was already providing. "Too soon." I grunted. She had to have been sore and there was no way I wanted to even chance hurting her again.

She was using two hands now, circling his head with her index finger. "I'm so ready for you baby."

This woman was going to be my death. She lined JW up with what she thought was her entrance, circling around her sweet pussy to find the right spot. She was completely oblivious to what she was doing to me.

If it were a physical connection that she needed, well then she had it. I wasn't going anywhere and she didn't need to do this again to secure me beside her. I was in it until the end.

"Bella, we can't." I said, stilling her moving hands.

Of course she completely ignored me. "Show me."

It wasn't a plea for help; it was a command that JW was all too happy to perform. Against my better judgment, I lined my cock up to her lower sweet honey lips, cradled her ass in my arms, lifted and slowly lowered her onto me. I knew that there would be pain, my dick was _big _and she was so tight.

I would do anything for her and if this is what she wanted, then I would comply. We were actually in a better position this way; she could set her own pace and rhythm. It took just a few moments for her to adjust to my size and then nodded, giving me the signal that she was ready. I moved in and out of her, setting a slow rhythm that she could catch on to. This was not going to be a fast romp in the hay again. I did not want to hurt her more.

I felt like a momma bird watching her baby bird fly for the first time. Bella is stubborn and it wasn't long before she increased her rhythm and began moving her thighs; riding me like an amateur bull rider. She circled her hips and I was euphoric at seeing her eyes widen at the sensations that created within her own core.

I braced my back against the wall of the tub and watched as she rode my dick, tits bouncing in my face. I held on to her ass with one hand and with the other claimed one of those titties for my mouth.

Yes, I wanted this to be sensual and slow for her, but damn, I am a man and the sight of her moving on me, over me and around me was fuckin' hot as hell. I made a mental note to devote one whole day to nothing but titty sucking. What can I say, I love me some titties.

"Uhh, God Jazz, more," she panted, "harder."

I released her titty and secured an ass cheek for the other hand. Within reason I would comply with her request, but there was no way that I would pound into her the way I wanted. We still had a few more go-a round's before that was even possible. Plus, I needed to teach her the difference between making love and fucking first.

"Hold onto me baby."

She put her arms around my neck to support her body, then I thrust into her harder, over and over and over again. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub at our movements, but neither of us cared as I set a new rhythm, going deeper.

"I wanna cum. Make me cum Jasper." I pinched and flicked her clit. "Fuck Jazz, yes!"

"You feel so fuckin' good." I thrust two more times. "Come on, give it to me baby."

"Yes. YES. YES!"

She exploded around me, squeezing me so sweet as I shot my baby making juice into her.

I could feel her heart slamming against her rib cage and her breathing was ragged and unstable.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded into my neck. "I don't think I can move."

I chuckled at her admission and gently eased out of her. "Wait here."

I jumped out of the tub and pulled a towel off of the warming rack to wrap her in. I towel dried her off and while she was blow-drying her hair I changed the sheets on the bed. She threw off the robe, wobbled naked out of the bathroom and climbed up into bed beside me. She took the two Tylenol I offered her and I turned her little body around to spoon her.

"Jasper?"

"Yeah baby?"

She turned to face me, throwing a leg over my waist and snuggling closer. My dick jumped at the contact and I rethought the wisdom of sleeping naked next to her warm body. I was more than willing to go another round, but after seeing her wobble out of the bathroom I knew we needed to slow down.

"Are you going to tell Emmett?"

Reality check. Emmett.

How the hell do I tell her about this one? There was one thing that was the most important thing to me in a relationship and that was honesty. We already had so many things that we were up against that I didn't want to add fuel to an already burning fire by not telling her the whole truth.

"Here's the deal, Emmett is not going to be to happy about our relationship."

"Relationship? You want a relationship with me?" She asked, in disbelief or disgust I couldn't tell.

I stared down at her like she had grown two heads. Who did she think I was, her initiation into the sex club? I thought that a relationship was what we both wanted. All of the signals pointed to that direction. Surely I had not gotten things that badly twisted.

I was mad and a lot hurt. I threw back the covers and stood up, pulling on my jeans.

"Where are you going?"

"Apparently we've mis-communicated somewhere."

She knelt on the edge of the bed, looking down at me as I searched under the bed for my gun. "What the hell are you talking about?"

She grabbed my arm, but I pulled out of her grasp. "You think you can just fuck me any time you want?" I demanded. Umm, role reversal much? I was starting to feel like a hormonal chick that had just been jilted. I needed to get out of that room before I started balling like a little bitch. "I thought that this was the start of something."

"You're a fucking moron Jasper Whitlock!"

I headed for the door and shouted out over my shoulder, "I must be, thinking that you would want a relationship with me!"

"What? Wait a fuckin' minute. Jasper you never even asked me!" She shouted at me.

I stopped, almost out the door, and turned back to her.

"What?"

She was standing on top of the bed now, naked with her hands on her hips. "After the wine party, the first one, you just left me here without a word. I thought that you didn't want me. So I figured that if we ever did do this that I wouldn't just assume that you'd want me like for _real_. I would just take what I could and be happy with that."

I absentmindedly scratched my temple with the nose of the gun; then realized what I was doing and carefully laid it on the dresser. "Are you serious?"

She nodded, sinking to her knees, tears threatening to spill over. I walked towards her and stared directly into her eyes. The bed height, along with her kneeling height put us at equal eye level. There was intense pain and longing written in the depths of her chocolate orbs and I felt like shit remembering what had happened that night and how I had left her.

"But I just told you in the tub in there that I've wanted you almost for as long as I've known you."

"I thought you were just talking about sex."

"Maybe that first day yes, but now I'm talking about wanting you for _real_, for a _real_ relationship." It appeared that Bella and I had a lot of communicating to do. But first I needed to apologize for that night and then ease her fears. "Bells, when I walked away that night, I was wrong. I didn't want to. I'm so sorry."

The tears did spill then and ran down her beautiful rosy colored cheeks. "Then why did you?"

I didn't want to tell her about the threat that Emmett had issued to me, knowing Bella, she would be very upset with her brother, but I also wanted to be completely honest with her and lay all of our cards out onto the table. We couldn't start any type of healthy relationship with unfinished business between us.

"That day we kissed, right after the charity ball, when Emmett nearly caught us –well, I guess he did catch us- he warned me to stay away from you."

"WHAT?"

"Yup, he said, and I quote: 'Don't even _think_ about my sister in that way. Do not look at her; do not touch her. Do not even _smell_ her. _Do not fuck with my sister'. _So when he called to make sure we got home that night, I couldn't betray his trust. I should _not_ have left you like that, without any type of explanation, but I guess I wasn't really thinkin' clearly either. I'm so sorry, I will never walk away from you like that again." She held my heart in her hands; there was no way I could walk away from her.

"Emmett is my brother and I love and respect him dearly, but who I choose to be with is _my _decision, not his. _I_ will handle Emmett."

"Listen Bells, I don't want to stir up anything between you and Em-"

"But-"

I put my hand over her mouth. "Listen to me first baby. I've known Em a long time, and I honestly think that he's just concerned about your safety if we started something. Relationships are highly emotional and stressful. With my responsibilities to keep you safe, that's a whole hell of a lot of pressure. My judgment could be off, my perception of situations could be wrong. I could get distracted and we both could be killed. I'm only guessing that's why he warned me to stay away from you."

"But you want this to work, right?" She asked nervously, biting her lip. "We can't just pretend that the last few hours didn't happen."

"Of course I want this to work!" My arms were around her instantly to reassure her. "No baby, I'm not giving you up. But I think we should wait a while before we tell him Bells. Not only do we need time to get use to _us_ before we add any more drama into our lives, I think I may just need to prove to him that there is no distraction where you and I are concerned.

"So we're supposed to just go around, orbiting each other and not really _being_ together?"

"No, that's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean Jasper?" She asked, hands on her hips with a look of exasperation on her beautiful face.

"First of all, relax and stop shooting me eye daggers." I massaged her shoulders until I could feel her somewhat relax. Her skin had prickled with goose bumps in the cool air; I wrapped a throw blanket around her naked shoulders and pulled her closer. "I'm in this with you; we are a team, team J and B. I don't want you handling Emmett without me. Second, Emmett is my best friend and technically he's my boss-"

"You could quit!" She said excitedly, interrupting me. "I mean, I could buy you out of your contract so that you wouldn't loose any money. And then we could hire someone else to be my bodyguard."

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "First of all B, even if I forfeited all the money in the contract by quitting it's not like I would ever _need_ to work again." I kissed her quickly. "Second of all, no one is guarding _this_ body besides me." I ran my hands up under the blanket, hands settling on her ass cheeks and nibbled on her neck. "This is all _mine_."

She giggled and slapped my hands away when I pinched her nipples. "Be serious J. How are we supposed to act around Emmett if we can't tell him?"

"Umm, I don't fancy being castrated right away. 'Hey man I'm fucking your sister' is not something a guy wants to hear when he's thousands of miles away."

"Jasper!" She said, looking at me with her hands on her hips again.

"I know, I know." I kissed her again. "Look, I'll talk to him as soon as he gets back on American soil. I promise. Okay?"

She sighed. "Okay, I trust that you'll do the right thing. But you still haven't asked me." She poked me in the chest with her tiny finger.

I grinned at her, knowing what she was referring to. "Umm, Isabella, will you be my girlfriend?" I asked, pretending to be shy and looked up at her through my lashes as I toed the floor rug.

She crossed her arms and pretended to think, finger on chin, and looked up at the ceiling. "I'll think about it." She laughed and jumped off of the bed.

"What?"

"I'm hungry, what about you?"

**

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**BPOV**

"Why in the world are you craving fried chicken at 3 o'clock in the morning?"

I flipped a drumstick onto a piece of paper towel to absorb the sizzling grease. "I don't know, Angela's mom use to fry it at least once a week for Emmett before she retired. Some nights Rose and I would come home late from a club party and be starving, so we always ate the left-over's cold. Plus, we're up; I'm hungry."

Jasper stood behind me, arms wrapped around my waist with his chin on my shoulder. Being away from him made me anxious and I guess he felt it too. We didn't want to be apart any longer than necessary. I flipped a few more pieces out of the fryer, turned it off before removing the skillet from the burner.

Jasper pushed himself up onto the granite countertop and watched me while I cleaned up my mess. I hated eating knowing that there was a sink full of dishes to be washed afterwards, and that I couldn't just go lie on the sofa and let my meal marinate in my stomach.

"You still haven't answered me," he demanded, wiping off the clean skillet with a dishtowel.

I took the skillet from him and returned it to its place on the rack above the island. He looked so cute and lost sitting there waiting on my answer. "Yes Jasper, I will be your girlfriend."

He grinned and pulled me into his arms. I loved kissing Jasper. His lips were always so soft and sweet against mine; even when he was urging me along faster I never felt that he put his needs above my own.

We broke away and he looked down into my eyes. "Everything's gonna be okay, we just have to be careful and avoid as many distractions as we can."

I let the air out that I was holding onto. "What do you mean?"

"Like when we are in public, don't touch me in a suggestive way. And try not to look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like that," he pointed to my face.

I crossed my eyes and stuck out my tongue laughing. "Hey genius, I can't see my face."

He laughed at me. "Like you want me eat you or like you want me to fuck you right then and there."

"Then I probably should just wear a bag over my face at all times." I laughed again.

He kissed me and ran his fingers lightly down my face. "Never cover this up. And don't wear tops that make your nipples wink at me." He pinched each one through the cotton material of my tank top. I was without a bra and I felt them harden immediately, rubbing against the fabric and sending a sharp lighting bolt of pleasure straight to my newly deflowered pussy.

I moaned. "What else?"

"And don't make those sounds." He kissed upward to my neck, hands running downward, resting on my hips. He moved me slightly up and down over his erection. "And don't wear skirts, they're too easy to get under." He ran his hands up my thighs, under the thin cotton of my skirt and cupped my ass, squeezing and kneading my flesh.

"Anything else?" I asked, panting.

"The lab coat and glasses," he was panting now too, "you definitely can't wear those."

"Got it, anything more?"

His stomach growled and just as soon as our little make-out session had started it ended.

"We eat and then I'll show you." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and ran off to wash his hands.

So it goes without saying that I skipped work the next day. It was a Friday anyway; I used the excuse that I had a doctor's appointment for my wrist. It wasn't a complete lie. The appointment was actually at four in the afternoon but it was with Carlisle and I could see him anytime I wanted anyway. He had removed the hard cast a week ago and placed me in a soft one with Velcro straps. This appointment was just to check the healing process and to listen to my lungs.

Jasper and I spent most of the day together curled on some sort of horizontal surface talking and laughing and of course making-out. We hadn't ventured past feeling one another up simply because we were so stupidly giddy and beside ourselves with puppy love that we just didn't want to rush things. At the moment we were in the TV room curled on one of the overly plush sofas.

His hand was currently up my shirt, fingers on my left nipple- his favorite place to be now- squeezing and rolling it while he sucked on my neck when the doorbell rang. I giggled at his frustration and swatted his hands away.

"I'll get it. It's probably Rose anyway, she's forever forgetting her keys." I rolled my eyes at my friend's forgetfulness.

"Tell her I'll buy her that vintage Bentley she's been looking at if she goes away!" Jasper called out after me.

I stopped at the hallway mirror to recheck my appearance. Our cover would surly be blown if Rose found out what we had been up to. I knew that she would be supportive of our new relationship, but at the same time Rose had a major case of loose lips. Keeping someone else's secrets was not her forte.

The doorbell rang twice more before I got to the door. And just as I was about to pull the door open Jasper was running toward me, yelling at me to not open it.

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**A/N: Okay, so what do you think? Hot and steamy? or lukewarm and humid?**

**Tell me what you're thinking! I'm working on Chapter 13 and I'm coming up blank. Do we need more J & B lovin' or some stalker action. Leave me some suggestions.**

**Friend me on Facebook. I'm listed as Twolipps Writes Fanfiction! We are some very lovely girls hanging out and swapping Robporn! (ok, they've got the porn pics, I just look at 'em and write lemons to them)!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**So I wrote this chapter three times before I was satisfied with it (and I'm still not 100% sure about it). There's not much action *wink wink* but parts of it are really important to the story line, so pay attention!**

**Cullen818 and JamesRamsey, you guys rock my gym socks! Thanks guys for your hard work and quick turn around time!**

**And thanks GLee68 for letting me bounce ideas off of you. You assured me that I wasn't way out of the park with this one.**

**SM's got her version, this one's mine!****JPOV**

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We were in the TV room, curled up together on one of the oversized sofas, kissing and dry humping each other. I had one hand under Bella's shirt, my new favorite place to be; well, actually between her legs was my new favorite place to be, but we were trying to take things slow and not just go at it like jack rabbits. So for now, I settled for pinching and rubbing and working my way up to sucking on those fabulous tits of hers.

"God, I love your tits," I mumbled against her neck. I think I had already told her this no less than tens times before noon, but they were fabulous; fitting snug in my hands like they were made for me. I felt that works of art deserved to be praised and paid homage to.

We were lying on our sides facing each other and Bella's leg was hitched over my hip; she rubbed the back of my leg with the heel of her foot.

"So what's on the agenda for tonight?" She asked, slightly breathless, running a finger along the waistband of my jeans.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. Did she really have to ask? I damn sure knew what was on _my_ agenda for the night and it involved a lot less clothes. "What did you have in mind baby?" I asked, trying out my deep suave voice on her; one eyebrow cocked seductively.

Bella giggled, making her tits bounce a little under her shirt and I had to ask her again what she said. Seeing how distracted I was, she playfully swatted my hands away.

"I said, I've got tickets to a show in the City that one of our directors dropped off at the office the other day. It's not Broadway, but it's supposed to be really good."

"And you want to go?"

She nodded, running her hands up under my shirt. "I want my boyfriend to take me."

"Oh I'll take you alright." I wagged my eyebrows at her suggestively.

She twisted my nipple. "I'm serious."

"Damn baby," I said, rubbing my now smarting nipple, "you don't have to go all violent on me. That shit hurt."

"Aww, poor baby. Let mama kiss it and make it better."

She pushed my shirt up and ran her pretty pink tongue across my nipple. JW was already awake, but he was standing up at attention now. "It hurts here too," I said, taking her hand and placing it over my very hard erection. She stroked my length through the denim fabric and sucked on my nipple at the same time.

Just as I was thinking of a way to get her pants off, the doorbell rang. "Dammit to hell!" I cursed in frustration. "Who the hell could that be?"

Bella pulled away and swatted once again at my hands that were moving under her shirt. "I'll get it. You need to decompress anyway." She nodded at my crotch. "It's probably just Rose, she's forever forgetting her keys."

She rolled off the sofa and straightened her top before going to the door.

"Tell her I'll buy her that Vintage Bentley she wants so bad if she goes away," I called out after her.

I remained on the sofa, willing JW to take a nap so that Rose wouldn't suspect that something had been going on, when it suddenly occurred to me that Rose would not be without Peter; and Peter sure as hell would not be without his house keys. Bella was going to open the door and it could be anybody on the other side of those three inches of solid English oak. We hadn't heard a peep out of her stalker, or Edward for that matter, for nearly three weeks and something told me that our short-lived reprieve was soon coming to an end.

My feet worked faster than the rest of my body and I tripped over an errant sofa cushion before my brain caught up to speed to watch out for where I was going. "Bella!" I yelled. "Don't open the fuckin' door!"

I slipped in the hallway on the freshly waxed hardwood floors, cursing Angela and her superior domestic skills, and quickly righted myself in time to see Bella, with her hand on the knob pulling the door open.

_Without checking the peephole first!_

I angled my body to collide with the door, simultaneously knocking her out of the way.

I had my feet under me and was up in a second, dragging her out of the foyer and into the dining room. I held her up against the wall and out of sight from the front door.

"Baby, are you okay?"

The doorbell rang again.

Maybe I was overreacting. I mean, would a stalker just walk up to his victim's house and ring the damn doorbell? I didn't know but I wasn't going to take any chances.

"What the hell, Jasper?"

"Rose is with Peter. Peter has his keys and we aren't expecting anyone." I pointed out. "I want you to go through the kitchen and up the back stairs to the panic room." I pulled the little twenty-two-caliber pistol that I kept harnessed to my calf muscle and checked the safety. Bella was stunned and hadn't moved from her spot, clutching her wrist. I quickly kissed her forehead and gave her a little nudge. "Now!"

"Jazz-"

"Bella, baby please," I pleaded with her, interrupting her protest. I knew that she didn't like the room, but this was not the time or place to argue about it; she had to get somewhere safe and that was the safest place in the house.

I looked back over my shoulder to the door, where whoever was on the other side was now incessantly ringing the doorbell and beating on it with their fist. I was grateful that the door had an inside locking mechanism that, when engaged, locked from the inside as soon as it was shut. Even though the door had been partially opened, once I had slammed it, the party on the other side was locked out, without me physically locking it.

I was pushing her, tugging on her to get her to move. "I understand, I know it's a small room-"

"NO!" she yelled, pulling out of my grasp. "Jazz, listen to me. I looked, I checked out the peephole. It's okay baby. It's okay."

"Huh? W-what?"

"I looked through the peephole first, then I checked my hair in the mirror before going to open the door. It's Peter with Rose and Char." What she said had not registered in my brain and I was still trying to get her to move. She stood on her toes and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, massaging the nape of my neck. "Calm down baby. Just breathe. Listen to me. It's your brother at the door with Rose and Char."

"P-Peter?"

"Yes! It's just Peter and the girls."

Realization of what she was telling me hit me. I sucked in a breath and released it with a long sigh, holding her tiny body to my own. "Are you sure?" I asked, ignoring the fact that Peter was still pounding, and now probably kicking the door.

She smiled up at me then quickly kissed me. "Yes baby, I'm sure." She released me to go open the door. "I've got an IQ of like 198; do you honestly think that I would open a door without checking to see who it is first? Especially since someone is trying to kill me."

As soon as she flipped the lock, Peter popped through the door like the jack on a jack-in-the-box, guns in both outstretched hands. He looked around wildly before speaking.

"What the hell is going on here? Why did ya slam the door like that? Is everything okay?"

"Calm down Petey," Bella said, "everything's fine."

It took a moment for him to feel secure enough to lower his weapons. It took me that same amount of time to feel rage building up in my chest at our neglect.

I was mad at myself because I got distracted and broke about every rule and procedure possible by allowing her to open the door. There could have been anyone or anything laying in wait for her and I would have been too late in getting there. All it would take is a second to fire off a shot or to ignite a well-concealed block of C4. Her life as well as mine would be over just that quick, because I sure as hell could not live without her.

And then there was Peter. He knew that we weren't expecting them back for another day at the least. I had just talked to him the night before to confirm that fact. The first thing he should have done was to update me on their change of location. Anything could have happened to him or the girls en route from the City to Sound Beach.

Simply put, we had gotten lazy. And in our line of work, lazy people die.

"I know you heard me knocking. Why did you slam the door like that?" Peter asked angrily.

"What's wrong with your wrist?" Char asked, coming into the house behind Peter and Rose. Peter had apparently told them to wait in the car until he could secure the premises.

Another item on the list of reasons to be mad: Bella's wrist. When I had slammed into the door and knocked her down, she had fallen on her already injured wrist. She looked down at it, almost as if she had forgotten that it was hurt.

"Oh, I fell."

Rose snorted and rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"Let me see it," I said to Bella, guilt starting to eat away at me.

"No, it's fine." She pulled her arm out of my grasp. "So what are you guys doing here? I thought you weren't coming back this way until late tomorrow."

"Dammit Bella, I said let me see it!" I yelled, immediately regretting the tone I used with her.

She took a step back, eyes going wide in fear. Four sets of eyes turned and stared at me like I had lost my mind. I had never yelled at Bella like that before, and I hated the way she was looking at me like I was some sort of ogre.

Who could blame her though, for the last however many years, she had been living in this house answering the door like any other normal person; so to do so today was not out of the ordinary for her. It wasn't her job to think of every possible dangerous scenario and then to formulate a plan of action for it. That was my job. That was Peter's job. We failed and she got hurt; that's why I was beside myself with anger. But that was no reason to take it out on her.

I took at step forward, intent on apologizing, but Bella turned and walked away from me.

"Who pissed in your corn flakes?" Rose asked.

I started to say something shitty back to Rose but stopped myself. Nothing I said to anyone would come out right and I didn't need any more enemies. I ignored Rose and tried to even out my tone before speaking again. "Peter, I need to speak to you. In private." I turned and walked out the back door. What I wanted to say to him didn't need an audience listening in and adding their two cents worth.

I paced the floor of the pool house trying to calm my raging nerves. The French doors clicked and before I could get a master over my anger I was in Peter's face.

"What the fuck was that Peter?" I demanded. I grabbed him up by the collar of his shirt and shoved him against the wall. "Showing up at the house without sending me a location change? _She was at the door Peter!_ What if it wasn't you? What if it was this fuckin' maggot that's trying to kill her?" I loved my younger brother, but at the moment I wanted a piece of his ass.

"Jazz, I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry." He pushed me away.

"Sorry?" I asked, outraged. She could have died and he was _sorry_. I could have lost the love of my life and he was _sorry_. "You were distracted," I accused. "Sorry won't bring her back Peter." I turned away from him, not wanting him to see the fear in my eyes. But he heard it in the way my voice quivered.

"Wait a minute, what the fuck is going on between you two? What were _you_ doing when we showed up? Answer me," he barked when I said nothing.

What could I say? I was just as guilty as he was.

"No way," he mumbled, shocked. "You come in here ranting and raving at me for being distracted and _you're_ the one distracted. You're fucking Bella, aren't you?. You got pussy on the brain and you're blaming _me_ for potentially getting her killed."

"Shut up!" I shoved him. "You don't know what you're talkin' about."

"You self righteous son of a bitch." He shoved me right back. "Don't you fuckin' play the blame game with me Brother. Get your head out from between her thighs for a second to accept your own neglect in this." He stood facing me, hands on hips and breathing hard. "You've been doing this job for, how long? Ten years. And I've been with you the last four of those. What's the first thing you teach all new guards on their first day?"

I turned away from him, knowing where he was headed with his reprimand.

"You teach them to not get distracted. Distractions are deadly." He was pacing now. "So we both screwed up," he admitted. "But we move on from here and you put what you think you've got going with Bella behind you until we catch this guy."

I turned to face him then. "Then you give up Char." I challenged.

Peter stopped and stared at me. He had known Char for only a few short weeks, but I could already tell that there was no way that he would be willing to give up what they had started. It could possibly be months before this maniac was caught and Bella and I could not just go back to the way things were either. She was the air to my lungs and the blood to my veins; without one the other didn't work and there was no substitute.

"That's what I thought," I said.

"Emmett will murder you."

I shrugged. I would rather die than be without her anyway. "I love her."

"Are you sure that you want to go this way?"

"There is no other way."

"You could both die," he pointed out, unnecessarily.

"Then _we_ have to make sure that doesn't happen."

He sighed, scratching his scalp. "Then we need a plan."

**BPOV**

My wrist hurt, badly. But I could already see the guilt and fear written on Jasper's face. I didn't want him feeling like that, so I played it off as nothing. It wasn't his fault that it happened; it was just one of those things. He was trying to protect me and I got hurt in the process. To me, it was an occupational hazard, similar to a chef cutting their self with a knife, or me blowing off my fingers in the lab; anything could happen.

But then he yelled at me, well, to be completely honest, it scared me a little. Of course I wasn't afraid of him physically; Jasper would never hurt me in that way. But it was something in his eyes that caught me off guard. It was almost like in that split second he doubted whether or not our relationship was worth it. Whether or not _I_ was worth it.

What if he didn't want to take on the challenge that is me? What if he decided that he didn't even want to be my bodyguard anymore? Would he just leave?

I wasn't an easy person to be around. I was stubborn, socially awkward and emotionally closed off. Not to mention the fact that someone wanted me dead. That was a lot of baggage to be carrying around on a hundred and fifteen pound frame.

I could see why he was upset. My wrist was just one more thing to have to deal with now. So instead of offering him my comfort, or standing up to him and telling him to calm down and stop yelling, I did my classic Bella and just walked away. Even though I knew it was counter productive to do so, it was easier for me to deal with it that way.

Just as I hung up the kitchen phone, Rose burst through the door, hands on her hips and staring at me. Char was two steps behind her.

"What?" I asked, wrapping the ice pack around my wrist.

"What the hell is going on?"

I shuffled over to the stove and turned off the electric kettle. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean Rose."

"Yeah, whateva chick, you don't look like someone just beat your puppy for nuthin'."

Using my good arm, I poured hot water over the tea bag in my mug. "Just tired."

"Ohmigod, Ohmigod Ohmigod!" Rose was jumping up and down and grinning. "You had sex!"

I could feel the tell all blush creeping up my neck, and I knew I had that deer-in-the-headlights look on my face. There was no way I could deny it now.

"Nooo!" Char said, eyes going wide. "Get out!"

"Shut up Rose," I warned.

Rose nodded her head like a bobble doll, smiling brightly. "You and Jaspenis just fucked!"

"How the hell do you know that?" Char asked, looking back and forth between Rose and I.

I wanted to wipe the smug look off of Rose's face. She was my best friend in the world, but damned if I didn't want to murder her right now.

"She's got that wide legged, just-been-dicked walk." She nodded, matter of factly. "From the way you're walking, I'd say he's got one helluva cock too!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Rose, please. I am not walking -"

She was all but bouncing on her toes now. "You got your cherry popped!" She sang, grabbing me in a hug. "My lil' Bellyboo is all grown up now!"

"Wait a minute," Char interrupted, "you mean you and Eddie never…"

Rose shook her head. "Nope, uptight Eddie boy wanted to have her cherry in place on their wedding night." She danced around. "And now he's not gonna get it!" She sang again.

"How was it?" Char asked eagerly.

I did not want to get into this. All I wanted was to drink my tea, go have Carlisle look at my wrist again, and then wallow in my own self-pity. Talking about something as fantastic as what I had experienced the previous night would do nothing to help me get past the fact that it would probably never happen again once Jasper left me. I knew that he was just too good to be true.

Rose stopped dancing around and the two girls stared at me awaiting my answer. I was not one to kiss and tell, but at the same time it would be nice to share how I was feeling with another female. I sighed and smiled slightly, fighting back the desolation in my heart.

"It was nice," I said modestly, trying to gloss over the fact that I thought it was fantastic.

"Nice?" Rose stood, hands on her hips, looking down at me. "You gotta give us more details than that."

I blushed again and bit my lip wondering how much of it to tell them. "It's not like I have anything to compare it to, Rose. And what does it matter how great it was, he's gonna leave me anyway," I mumbled.

"What? Why would you say that?" Char asked.

"Didn't you see his face when he noticed my wrist?" I asked, sipping my tea. "The whole situation is fucked up. I'm too much trouble to deal with."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You're so full of shit Isabella McCarty. Jaspenis has been in lurve with you ever since he walked his fine ass of steel through the front door. He's a professional and he knows what he's doing. You need to stop worrying so much."

Char nodded her head in agreement. "I noticed it the first day you came to work with him."

"But what if-"

Rose interrupted, waving away my protest. "Girl please, he's been tryin' to sniff your cooter for months now." She draped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. "Just let him and enjoy it."

I smiled at my two friends and even though I was not fully convinced, it was nice to have them distract me.

"Now, on to more important topics," Rose stated, winking at Char.

"So how big is it?" Char asked, blushing.

I grabbed her wrist, and with my good hand, circled it with my thumb and forefinger. I then slid my hand up her forearm until my fingers stopped touching. Both sets of eyes bugged out when they understood what I was showing them.

"Holy Cherry Popping Motherfucker! No wonder you're walking like you've just been dicked!" Rose exclaimed excitedly.

"I'm not walking any diff-"

"You can't be serious!" Char squealed. "Because that means…"

"That it might be hereditary!" Rose finished her sentence and began her song and dance step again.

"What might be hereditary?" Peter asked, coming in through the back doors from the pool house. Jasper was right behind him; they exchanged looks and shrugged.

"Emmett's obsession with all things Sponge Bob," Rose lied.

"What?" Peter asked.

The three of us burst into a fit of giggles at Peter's blank stare.

Jasper said, "What are you three laughing at?"

"Nothing," we mumbled in unison.

It felt good to laugh even though my world was falling down around my ankles.

"Bells, we need to get your wrist looked at," Peter reminded.

"I've called Carlisle's office; he's waiting for me to come in. He says he needs to x-ray it again."

"Go get your shoes and coat, I'll take you," Jasper offered.

"No. I want Peter to take me." I said softly, not brave enough to look Jasper in the eye as I said it.

The room was silent for a few moments. Everyone stared between Jasper and I.

"Bella, I –"

"No, it's okay," Peter said, interrupting Jasper then stepped over to me. "I'll take her. Go get ready darlin'."

I didn't even chance a glance at Jasper before I ran up the stairs to get my things. We would talk about it, but I just wasn't quite ready yet.

"Hey Jazz," Rose said, "why do men get their great ideas in bed?"

He coughed, caught off guard. "What?"

_Oh God, please shoot me now,_ I thought as I walked back into the kitchen. I was throwing daggers at Rose with my eyes but she ignored me.

She rolled her eyes. "It's a joke. Just answer it."

"I don't know Rose, why do men get their great ideas in bed?"

"Because they're plugged into a genius!"

Rose winked at me, snorted and slapped her thigh.

"What's green and smells like pork?" she asked.

We shrugged.

"Kermit the Frog's finger!"

"Ohmigod that is soo corny," Char said.

"Okay Peter, I'm ready to go." I interrupted her little stand up comedy routine before it got really bad. Rose had hundreds of jokes, many of them tasteless and corny. She was forever telling them at the most inappropriate times, and then rolling around snorting and laughing like they were the funniest thing in the world.

Peter pulled his car around to the front of the house, bass bumping with a Chicano rap song. He was grinning like an idiot; sunglasses perched on the edge of his nose and rapping along to the tune as I got in.

"What?" I asked as he stared at me.

"You didn't say anything about my new ride." He lovingly ran a finger over the dashboard of his brand new Dodge Challenger SRT8. It was Blue Pearl with silver rally racing stripes down the hood and trunk.

"Peter, you've had this car for like a month now."

"Yes, but the fuzzy dice are new." He poked the black and white checkerboard die making them swing.

I laughed at him. "Your car is sooo sexy, and I love your fuzzy dice."

"Oohhh, just want every man needs to hear." He stepped on the gas and brakes simultaneously, making the engine roar through his new glass pipes and hood scoop. "The General Lee ain't got nothin' on me! Hold on suga, this is gonna be one helluva ride."

I strapped myself into the five-point harness just before he slammed on the gas. The tires spun before finding traction, kicking rocks and dirt from the driveway against the side of the house; we took off like hellhounds were chasing us.

Carlisle confirmed that I had indeed re-broken the bone fissures that had started to heal. He recast my wrist in purple plaster and gave me specific instructions to not do anything else that may cause injury. Surgery would be the next step if I ignored the rules. With the cast in place, Peter and I left the office for home. Only we didn't go straight there.

Apparently, being trapped with three women for hours on end tended to deplete the supply of male testosterone. We stopped by Newton's Hunting and Fishing store to pick up some.

"Have you ever been fishing?"

I nodded. "My father took me on my fifth birthday. It was one of his rare moments when he remembered that he had a kid that needed him. I was bored and kept throwing rocks into the pond because it was taking too long for the fish to bite. He got mad and never took me again."

"Emmett never took you?"

I shrugged. "He tried, but I was scared that I would make him mad and that he would leave too, so I refused to go."

Peter stopped his perusal of fishing line then looked at me. "He's not leaving you, you know?"

I knew that he wasn't talking about Emmett. I shrugged again, fighting back the tears.

"Jasper feels…Jasper is…" he sighed, "look, just don't worry about it okay. He was mad at me. We both screwed up."

"He told you about us, huh?"

"Yeah, and while I do think that right now a relationship is added stress, I also think that you're the best thing that's ever happened to him."

"What if he decides that it's not worth it? That _I'm_ not worth it?"

"Then he would be a damn fool. But that's not going to happen. You need to talk to him about it Bells. Stop keeping your feelings inside and let him know how you're feeling."

I nodded. "I will, I promise."

"Bella? Bella McCarty?"

I turned to see Detective Mike Newton coming toward me. Mike and I were one year apart but had gone to public school together. In high school he had always been the popular jock that all of the girls went after. Because of his popularity, and keen football abilities, he never had enough time to study. At least that's what he told his teachers.

So because Mike was able to fill the football stadium every Friday night, and lead the school to State Champions two years in a row, the teachers and staff gave him a break on his school work. The work that he didn't feel like doing, which was basically all of it, was divided amongst his tutors; who were expected, unsaid of course, to do it for him.

I just so happened to be assigned as his math tutor. Once I figured out that my job was not to tutor, but to carry his workload, I dropped him like a bad habit. He damn near failed math and I was labeled the nerd bitch.

The teasing that I already endured grew to unrelenting proportions, to the point where Emmett and my father had to threaten legal action in order for the school board to own up its responsibility to protect its students.

The day he graduated was the one of the best days of my life. The whole situation immediately became like yesterdays news, old and forgotten. I had not seen or heard from him in several years, and I did not want him to catch me about to wail like a baby in the middle of the fishing aisle. I took a couple of deep breaths and dried my tears.

"Detective Newton, how are you?"

I knew this man, but I was not expecting him to grab me in a bear hug. All types of panic alarms were going off in my head; but being charged with the assault and battery of a police officer would surely go on my already tarnished record, so I fought the urge to punch him.

"It's been what, seven or eight years since we saw each other last? I heard about your attack a few months ago. How are you holding up?"

"I'm well, thank you for asking."

"Dispatch received a call about an attempted burglary last night. I was just about to head that way to check it out for you. Funny, it wasn't Emmett or Edward that called it in though."

"My security guy chased whoever it was away."

"You have security now?"

Peter extended his hand to the Detective. "Peter Whitlock. The man that called it in is my brother, Jasper. He was the one who chased the crook away."

The two men shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you. You know, I was reading the report from the hit and run that you and your brother were in three weeks ago and I have some information for him. Would you mind giving it to him?"

"Sure, sure," I said, wondering what in the world Mike Newton had to give me.

Mike, Peter and I chatted a few more minutes about fishing, football and the weather before heading out of the store. Once outside Mike went to his police cruiser to dig up the information he had for Emmett.

"The police report, according to Emmett's description, details the type of vehicle and three numbers out of seven of the license plate on the front of the car. I took the liberty of running a query of those numbers and found five blue, late model four door Buick's that match the description." He extended the piece of paper to me. "You didn't get this from me Bella."

I looked at the piece of paper and then at him, wondering if it were some sort of trap concocted by Chief Swan in order to bring me up on trumped up charges. Peter must have sensed my hesitation because he took the paper and stuffed in his pocket. We thanked him and left the store.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"I don't know." Peter said, shaking his head.

"It's a trap, I just know it. Two ton Swan will be banging on our door just as soon as we get home to arrest us for stealing police information."

Peter chuckled. "I don't think so little one. I don't get it, what is really going on between the McCarty family and the police force in _two_ different states? From what I know about you guys, you're pretty upstanding people, not corrupt or anything."

I sighed and closed my eyes remembering. "When I was fifteen my father was a witness against a dirty cop in New York. He was a well-decorated cop and the police department as a whole was not happy that Dad was not afraid to testify against him. The whole thing was tied up in the courts for months and eventually the cop lost his job, benefits, reputation, and just everything. Ever since then they do not like us. Not in New York and definitely not here in Sound Beach. The dirty cop was Charlie Swan's brother."

"Billy Swan? It was your dad that testified against Billy Swan? Yeah, I remember hearing a little something about that case. I have a deep respect for someone who's willing to stand up for what's right, even when the majority is against them."

"It was that damn case that killed my father." I said softly. "He had a stress induced heart attack a few weeks before the ruling and never fully recovered."

Peter squeezed my good hand. "Ah man Bells, I'm sorry. I had no idea."

I shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

The rest of the way home we rode in silence. As we were pulling up the driveway, we noticed a beige Crown Vic, much like Jasper's jalopy, parked next to my Range Rover. A tall woman with demon blood hair was coming out the front door.

Peter instructed me to get into the driver's seat and to stay in the car until he signaled me that everything was okay. If something went awry, I was to get the hell out of there and go directly to their office headquarters in the City. My heart jumped in my chest as he approached the woman. They talked for a few moments before I saw him give the signal that everything was okay. I cut off the ignition and got out.

"Bella, this is Detective Victoria Simpson. She came to follow up on the attempted burglary call from last night."

We spoke a few minutes more and then I excused myself to go inside. I was tired, hungry and my wrist was hurting. All I wanted was a hot shower and uninterrupted sleep.

I kicked off my shoes and hung up my coat in the mudroom off the side of the kitchen. Something that smelled wonderful was bubbling on the stove, but I didn't even stop to check the pots, just went straight up the back stairs to my room. As I neared the top of the staircase, I saw Rose sneaking out of my bedroom.

"Rosalie Hale, you'd better not have been in my closet!" I yelled after her, as she vaulted down the front stairs.

"Whateva! I don't wear Lilliputian clothes!" She called out from below.

I smiled and took a weary deep breath before opening my bedroom door. To say that I was surprised, was an understatement. Tulips (in October) of every color imaginable, covered every available horizontal surface and beside every vase of flowers was a lit candle. Billie Holiday played softly in the background; there was a bucket of champagne chilling beside a white linen covered table with silver dome dishes near the balcony.

Jasper was standing beside the table holding a rare, blood red, Auroras Kiss dahlia in his hand. There were no words for how stunned I was at seeing him and what he had done.

He took a tentative step forward and then stopped, seeming to contemplate his next move. My mind was screaming at me to say something, but the synapses from my brain to my mouth were not working and no sound came out.

"I'm in…I need…I can't…Shit!" Jasper muttered, frustrated and tongue-tied. He opened his mouth to speak again but then just snapped his bottom jaw closed and stared at me for another moment. "Please don't hate me. I can't even hardly breathe thinking that you may hate me. I screwed up, I know. But we'll be better at protecting you I promise. I'm so sorry I yelled at you, just please don't hate me."

I still stood there staring at him, slightly confused as to why he thought I would hate him. That was the farthest thing from my mind. Didn't he know that I was a mess inside because I thought that _he_ didn't want _me_?

_No, he doesn't know because you haven't told him_, my inner voice chided.

"Say something, please," he begged, coming to stand in front of me.

"I thought you were gonna leave," I said softly, looking down at the carpet.

"What, why would you think that?"

"Because being with me is too hard."

"Bells, look at me." He raised my chin with his finger and I felt that familiar electric spark go through my body. "I'm not going anywhere that you don't want me to. Please tell me you believe me."

"But what if-"

"There are no 'what ifs', there are no doubts. I am here. I am not leaving. I know what I'm signing up for and I want you and only you."

"Just kiss and make up already!"

We both turned to see Rose standing in the partially opened door. Char and Peter were tugging on her arms to get her to move.

"Sorry guys," Char blushed, sticking her hand around the door before turning the lock in place and closing it.

Jasper and I both laughed at our friends. No, our family.

I turned back to Jasper. "Why did you say that you would do a better job at protecting me? You haven't done anything wrong," I pointed out.

"Are you kidding me? I got distracted. Peter and I both did. What if it had been someone else on the other side of the door?"

"I didn't even think about it."

"I know, because it's not your job to. That responsibility belongs to Peter and I." He looked down at our joined hands. "I'm so sorry about your wrist. Please forgive me."

I shook my head. "It's not your fault and there's nothing to forgive."

He held my face in his hands, lightly caressing my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. "I want to make love to you the way I should have last night. Will you let me?"

_Had it just been last night?_ I thought to myself as I nodded my acceptance to his request.

"That's something you never have to ask permission for."

He smiled and then kissed me slowly, tongue dancing with my own. He smelled like fresh laundered clothes and soap. I felt my arousal building and I deepened the kiss, stepping closer to him. His hands rested on my hips and slipped around to cup my butt cheeks.

He was the first to break away. "First, you need to eat." He took my hand, led me over to the table with the covered dishes and pulled back the lids with a _viola!_ "I've been craving chicken wings and Char said that you liked her famous buffalo wing sauce, so she made you chicken wings. And then Rose said that you'd complain about having too much meat and not enough cruciferous vegetables in your diet. Well none of us knew what that meant, so we wiki'ed it and there you have your broccoli with a lemon zest drizzle- whatever the hell that is. And then Peter suggested-"

"Peter?"

He nodded. "Why do you think you went to Newton's Sporting Goods? He was stallin' while we bought out every florist in town."

I kissed him hungrily. "Can't we just skip dinner and get to the sexing?"

He chuckled, then pulled out my chair and whispered in my ear, "You're gonna need to keep your strength up for what I have planned for you tonight sexy mama."

_Sexy mama?_ God, that was so titillating! I wanted to skip the buffalo wings and eat him. My lady parts were screaming at me.

He popped the cork on the champagne and poured two glasses.

"Chicken wings and Cristol? That's an odd combination."

"What can I say," Jasper turned up his glass and downed the contents, "I'm a simple man with varying tastes."

I dipped my finger in the bowl of wing sauce and sucked on it. "Good thing we've got extra sauce." I said and winked at him, liking the way his eyes slightly bugged out. New mission: seduce Jasper. Buffalo chicken wings and cruciferous vegetables were not the sexiest things in the world, but it was all I had to work with. And I was determined to make it work in my favor.

"Bella, eat your dinner," he warned.

"I'm eating." I said, taking a bite off the chicken and purposely dripping sauce on my chin.

I stuck out my tongue attempting to reach the tiny dollop of sauce right below my lip, sticking my tongue out farther than necessary to reach it. Jasper's eyes followed my movements, his own food forgotten. He coughed and sputtered as I successfully licked the sauce off.

"Are you hot?" I pulled off the cardigan that I was wearing, exposing the tiny cami underneath. "Must be all of the candles."

"S-should I p-put a few of them o-out?"

"No, they're so pretty. Can we open the balcony doors a little?" I asked, already getting up to open them. I pushed the doors open a little and instead of going back to my chair, I slipped my arms around his shoulders in a hug, letting my breasts rub against his back. "I can't believe you did all of this for me."

He turned in his chair to look back at me. I loved the way his eyes were at the same level as my breasts. I did not waste the opportunity to take a deep breath and push them out a little more.

"Babe, you're so worth it," he said, directly to the twins.

I grinned a little, knowing that he wouldn't last much longer. I slipped into his lap and leaned in as if to kiss his lips, but instead placed tiny kisses on his neck. The night before I had learned a few of Jasper's erogenous zones and the spot right behind the bottom of his ear, was a particularly sensitive one. It was this spot that I aimed for.

I felt my friend in his pants stirring under my ministrations and so I kissed and nuzzled the area on his neck a few more times for good measure. He was breathing hard and running his hands up and down my thighs.

I took a sip of the champagne, letting it linger on my lips and then kissed him. He greedily sucked the liquid off my lips, nibbling my bottom lip.

There were a few more areas on his body that would ensure a home run, the closest being his pectoral muscles. I stealthily unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and slipped my hand inside.

His resolve broke and he was a puddle of goo after the first pass of my hand over his nipple. Jasper abruptly stood up with me in his arms, nearly knocking over the food-laden table in the process. My inner diva slapped a high five to my libido and they both did a happy dance in my vagina.

I ran my left hand through his hair as I continued my assault on his neck. Jasper gently lowered me to the floor, making sure that I was secure on my feet before releasing me.

"So you think you can seduce me and get away with it?" He asked, hands roaming under the hem of the cami. "Shoving these beauties in my face," his fingers were now teasing the underside of my breasts, "and then wiggling around on my dick." He pulled the cami off, tossing it aside and popped open the front closure of my bra.

My head fell back, moaning, as he spoke and caressed my sensitive nipples. I loved the feel of his hands fingering me. His thumbs drew lazy circles around my areolas as he slowly and deliberately kissed me.

I felt the familiar stirrings in my stomach, an ache that only he knew how to please. I wanted him fast and hard, but his intentions were a contrast to my desires. He was taking his time, prolonging our pleasure in order to intensify it.

In a way, I owed it to him to be patient; he wanted to show me sweet and sensual loving in atonement for what he deemed his sins the night before. What I had said then was true now, I didn't need all the flowers and mushy romance that came with it, but to deny him his pleasure in providing it would be wrong. So I tamped down the animal lust I was feeling. I wanted him to feel as worthy as he made me feel, and if being patient was the way to do it, then I would comply.

I tugged on the hem of his shirt and he paused long enough to extend his arms and slip it over his head. He unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down my hips to my knees, hands running back up to cup my ass.

"I like these," he said, fingering the hem of the hot pink cheeky underwear I was wearing before pushing them down as well. He then lifted me at the waist and placed me atop the bed.

"I have them in seven different colors." I told him, pleased that he liked them.

He smiled. "One for each day of the week."

He bent over, and tugged my jeans off from the bottom, freeing my legs. I was perched naked on the edge of my bed and I had to close my eyes to keep from screaming out in anticipation. I felt him then hovering over me and I opened my eyes to see Jasper standing in between my spread legs, arms supporting his weight on either side of my thighs as he stared down at me.

I ran my right hand up and down the expanse of his muscular chest, using my left one to slowly unbutton his jeans. He grunted and breathed heavily through his nose as I slipped my cast free hand down the front of his pants.

He was hard and pulsing in my hand and the urge to feel him moving inside of me was almost unbearable. My brain kept sending the signal to slow down, to let him lead, but my body was not responding in kind. Jasper sensed this and pulled my hand free of his pants.

"Patience baby," he scolded teasingly.

He kissed my fingers and pushed me backward on to the mattress where he kissed me again, his sweet tongue gently probing my own. Like the touch of a butterfly his fingers danced across my skin, moving lower to the apex of my thighs.

He ran one skillful finger down then back up over my clit. Who knew that one finger could be so powerful? "Damn baby, you're dripping," he said, licking my juices off of his finger.

I panted with lust and spread my legs even farther, encouraging him to do it again. Patience and slow love making be damned, I wanted him.

"You taste so good baby," he murmured against the inside of my thighs, licking my lower lips, tongue twirling over my clit.

He thrust his fingers inside me and I cried out, left hand clutching the hair on his head. I was holding him to me as if somehow he would disappear into thin air. There was a slight pinch of pain, a residual byproduct from the previous night's activities, and then nothing but pure chaotic pleasure as he alternated his movements from finger thrust to tongue circles.

Just as I felt the pressure building, on the edge of cumming, Jasper removed his fingers and filled me with his hard cock. It was exactly what I wanted, exactly what I needed: his body filling me, stretching me, commanding me. It was a connection that I could not describe, and up until now, didn't know I needed. I knew that he felt it too because despite his early warnings of patience, his movements sped up.

"Wrap you legs around me baby." He moved effortlessly within me, pumping in time to some unknown rhythm. "God, you feel so good…so tight."

I was there again, right on the edge. "J-Jasper…aargh! Harder! Harder!"

"Is that it?" He asked, thrusting harder, circling his hips before retreating and thrusting again.

"Yes baby!" I tighten my legs around his waist; a thin sheen of sweat covered our bodies making us slide together. "Yes, right there…right there…right there!" I cried out, as he found the right spot and pummeled it over and over again. "Yes! Yes! Jasper!" I came, hard.

"Fuck! Bella!" Jasper buried his face into my neck, teeth sinking into my fragile skin as he verbally roared out his own release.

He collapsed on top of me, pinning me with his weight and breathing hard. I didn't mind being trapped under him, and as funny as it sounded, it felt glorious to be held down.

"Babes, you okay?"

I ran my fingernails up and down his back. "Can we do that again?"

* * *

**A/N: Many many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to review, put this fic on alerts or add me to your favorites. I don't know what works and what doesn't if you guys don't tell me. So come on, tell me!**

***Note for the future* Emmett is going to find out they J & B are together. Considering the story line thusfar, in what way do you think he should find out? Will he be resentful and upset, holding a grudge, or will he give in and offer his blessings? I have a few ideas already, but I want to know what you guys are thinking. Let me know!**


	14. Chapter 14

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 14**

**Thanks to the world's best beta's: Cullen818 and JamesRamsey**

**SM owns it!**

* * *

**JPOV**

"Is this really necessary?" Bella asked, turning to look at me.

We were standing in the driveway, watching the construction crew dig six foot deep holes, ten feet apart around the perimeter of the property for the new security fence that I was having installed. My security team from headquarters had already began the process of running the miles of fiber optic cable, as well as installing the wi-fi routers needed, for the new high tech video monitoring system that I had ordered straight from the factory design table in Tokyo.

It took one phone call to Emmett and two hours of talking to suppliers, vendors and contractors in order to have the most efficient high tech security system known to mankind installed at the McCarty home. The amount _I_ was paying for the system would feed several small countries for several years.

Standing there beside Bella, I looked into her eyes and remembered how easy it would be to lose her; there was no question whether or not this was necessary. I would gladly slap down my black card, my life-blood and then some, if it meant she were safe.

"Yes. I should have had this done on day one." I said, slightly angry with myself because it took too long for me to realize the precautions that I needed to take.

I wanted to pull her close to me, to feel her anticipation right before I kissed her; but stopped just short of doing that. Even though we were at home, an army of men were buzzing about, and Bella had not publicly ended her engagement with Edward. I trusted my men explicitly, but the men from the fencing crew were another matter entirely.

They were subcontractors who, truth be told, were a little more than just rough around the collar. Day laborers mostly, who would give an honest days work for an honest wage but always looking for a way to come up. I did not want our relationship documented through cell phone pictures and fuzzy video footage. Once the story, whenever we finalized one, broke, there would be enough of that to deal with then.

"We need to go," Bella said, turning to go back into the house. "I've got interviews all morning."

Because she had injured her right wrist, the dominant hand, it would be nearly impossible to work around the sensitive chemicals and tiny engine parts that were vital to her research. She literally needed a right hand man and that was something I could not do for her.

"Hold on a second swe-Bella." I said, trying to cover the fact that I had almost called her _sweetie_ in front of the general contractor for the fence crew.

She turned and smirked at me, knowing what I had stopped myself from saying. "Yes?"

I signed the work order dismissing the contractor. "I need you to meet someone."

I waved and caught the attention of the Information Technology Specialist for my company. He jogged over; laptop forever stuck in his hands and long hair flapping in his eyes.

"Ben Cheney, this is Ms. Isabella McCarty, Bella this is Ben Cheney." They shook hands. "After they finish setting up the system Ben will come by tonight and show us how to work it."

"That's very considerate of you Mr. Cheney. I'm sure –

"Bella!" Angela called, coming out of the house and running toward her with the phone. "Good, I thought you had gone already," she panted. "Phone call for you."

"Oh Angela, you didn't have to run all the way out here, you could have just taken a message."

"He said it was important." She looked from me to Ben to Bella and back to Ben. I didn't know Angela very well, but I could definitely detect a faint blush as she looked at Ben.

"Excuse me Mr. Cheney." Bella turned her back to us, phone in hand and started to walk back towards the house. "Hello?"

Ben had started to explain something about the system, when I saw Bella's back stiffen and the phone drop from her hands. I was at her side in a second.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I demanded, immediately eyeing her for injuries even though she had just been standing right next to me. "Bella!" I shook her a little.

"H-h-he's w-watching u-us."

My blood ran cold as I deciphered her stutters. "Get in the house!" I yelled. "Get in the house! NOW!" I reacted before I even had time to think about it, yelling at Angela to get in the house as I slipped one arm around Bella's waist and all but carried her inside. I slammed the front door shut and dead bolt locked it. "Peter!" I called out frantically. "Peter, where the fuck are you?"

"I'm here, what the hell is going on?" He asked, coming out of the kitchen. "Bella? What happened?"

"I don't really know." I picked Bella up and carried her into the library where I sat down on one of the sofas with her in my lap. She had said nothing else and had her eyes closed. "Baby, you gotta tell me what happened." I held her close, rubbing her back and smoothing the hair out of her face.

Peter knelt down in front of her, taking her tiny hands into his massive paws. "Hey suga lips, tell big Daddy Pete what's wrong."

She took a couple of deep breaths before speaking. "It was the fake machine voice again. He said that he was watching us and that when the right time came, a fence wouldn't keep him out." She buried her face into the crook of my neck, breathing hard. I couldn't tell if it was her asthma or a panic attack, but I pulled her inhaler out of my suit pocket just in case.

Peter looked at me and gave a small nod before leaving the room. We both knew that putting a trace on the call would be useless; no doubt the killer was using a disposable, untraceable, cell phone. But in order to ease our minds that we had exhausted all methods available to find this maniac, we would issue the request anyway.

Bella abruptly stood up and faced me; face a solid mask devoid of all emotion except one: determination. "Let me go wash my face and then I'll be ready to go."

"Whoa lil' mama." I said, taking her hand before she walked out the door. "I think we need to sit this one out today."

"Why?"

"_Why_?" I asked as if the answer should be obvious. Hell, it was certainly obvious to me. "Well for one, this fucktard is out there watching you, us."

"How is that any different than before?"

In a way she was right. We had known since that day months ago when Bella and Rose went shoe shopping in the city, that she was being watched. But that did not negate the fact that he had just called and was probably hiding out in the woods somewhere, with a long-range scope attached to a rifle waiting for her to come out. The thought alone had me wanting to lock her in her bedroom until the idiot was caught.

"It just is." I said, not really having a sufficient answer.

Bella took a deep breath and took my hands into hers. "Jazz, what if someone told you that you could no longer do the things that you loved simply because it was too dangerous?"

"Bella, I –"

"No Jazz, I'm not going to live my life in fear. I understand that there are precautions that I have to take, especially now that you and Deputy Doo Dog –"

"Hey, I heard that!" Peter yelled out from down the hall.

"…especially since you and Big Daddy Pete," she emphasized his self-appointed nickname, "are running double duty trying to find this guy. But what does it matter if I'm in New York working, or here at home sitting around wishing I could go to work. He's _still _watching me."

I kissed her slowly, savoring the sweet taste of her lips. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"What's gonna happen to me? You've got me in this protective bubble of yours, remember?"

I sighed, running my fingers over her lips. "I wish I _could_ put you in a bubble, an invisible shield to keep everyone out but me."

"Hmmm, I'll put that on my waiting list of experiments to conduct."

"Baby, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Do you remember our conversation from last night?"

She looked at me with narrowed eyes and lips pursed, trying to figure out which conversation I was talking about.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's _not _the conversation we had while in the shower." She said, smirking.

I thought about our conversation in the shower and smiled.

"_Jasper I think you have an unhealthy obsession with my breasts." Bella said, smacking my hands away._

_"I can't help it babe. Some men like asses, some men like legs; I'm a titty man." I said going toward those glorious mounds again, fingers at the ready to pinch and roll her nipples._

"_We're gonna be late." She smacked my hands again._

"_Late for what? It's just dinner with Peter and the girls."_

"_Yes, and we've been in this room for twenty-four hours straight. The last thing I ate was cold chicken wings and warm Cristal."_

"_Mmm, that's not the last thing I ate." I said, running my hands down between her thighs._

"_Jasper, you're supposed to be helping me wash, I'm handicapped, remember?" She shook her cast at me. We had wrapped two industrial strength garbage bags around her arm to keep the water out, rendering her right hand completely useless. _

"_Okay okay, I'll be good. But I do think I need to have some sort of scheduled private time with the girls." I copped a feel for the final time. _

"_Jasper!"_

I shook my head to clear the memory. "No, that's not the conversation, although I _do_ think we need to set that schedule." I cleared my throat and became serious once again. "You promised to make an effort in telling me your feelings. Remember?"

She nodded, looking down at the floor.

I bent low to look in her eyes. "You trust that I'm not leaving." I hated speaking to her this way, bringing up her shortcomings and putting them on display. But Bella is without a doubt one of the most stubborn humans I know and I didn't want her closing herself up and me out. "And you know that I'm here willing to listen to anything you have to say, without passing judgment and without putting demands on you. Right?"

She nodded again.

"Say it out loud baby."

"Yes I know."

"Come here." I pulled her back to the sofa and sat next to her. "Then tell me what you're really feeling, right at this moment."

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak. Nothing came out. I waited patiently for her to begin; determined to sit there all day if I needed to.

With trembling lips she looked me in my eyes and spoke. "I'm scared that he's going to take you away from me. I'm scared that you or Peter or one of the girls will get hurt because of me."

I pulled her to me and held her while she cried silently in my arms. I murmured reassurances to her, telling her that I was proud of the way she expressed herself and how much I cared about her. Bella was always worried about someone else's safety and never enough about her own. When she finished she sat up and looked at me.

"Better?"

She nodded.

"Remember, we're team J and B. Nothing and no one is going to split us apart. Got it?"

She nodded.

"And we all will be fine. Peter and I will make sure of that. Okay?"

"Yes."

"Good, now let's go show this fucker we aren't scared."

**

* * *

****BPOV**

I tossed the stack of applicant files down on my desk. Out of ten interviews, so far none of them were qualified enough to help me run my lab. Hell, a couple of them I wouldn't even hire to wash my car.

I had deadlines to meet, a board of impatient directors to appease and research papers to write. None of that was going to happen anytime soon if I could not find a suitable applicant. Was it too much to ask from someone that claimed they graduated from Princeton with a Masters in Physics to have actually _heard _about the theoretical problems surrounding high temperature superconductivity?

I shook my head. What was wrong with our university school systems?

"Hey babe," Jasper said coming into my office, "you okay?" He stood behind me and began rubbing my shoulders.

I sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just haven't found anyone yet."

"Is there anything I can do?"

I closed my eyes and sighed again, this time in a good way. "Yeah, keep doing that."

"You'll find someone; it just may take a few days."

The phone buzzed and Char's voice came over the intercom. "Hey Bells, your four o'clock is here."

"Thanks Char, give me five minutes." I flipped through the files on my desk, not finding what I was looking for then buzzed her back. "Hey Char; I don't have the applicant file."

"I'll send him in with it."

Jasper leaned down for a quick kiss before he left. "Keep yer' head up doll face."

His lips tasted faintly of spearmint gum and onions. "What have you been eating?"

He grinned. "Chili cheese fries with the works."

"That greasy stuff is gonna kill you. You need more vegetables." I poked him in his stomach.

"Hellooo, French fries are po-tay-toes. Potatoes are veg-get-tables. And so are the beans that were _in_ the chili."

"Okay, fine then. When we're old and gray don't come crying to me when your arteries are clogged and they put you on a diet of baby food."

"They only do that when you lose your teeth." He flashed his pearly whites at me.

I laughed at him, pointing toward the door. "Go. This is my last interview and then we can go home."

He laughed, closing the door behind him. I checked my hair in the little pocket mirror that I kept in my desk drawer before going to answer the knock on the door. I was caught off guard and nearly yelled _'Spike!_' at seeing the man on the other side, holding his applicant file in his hands.

"Ms. McCarty?" He verified, extending his hand. "James Cope. I believe we've met before."

James Cope graduated _magna cum laude_ from Georgia Tech with dual degrees in Chemistry and Bioengineering. While he did not possess anything higher than his undergraduate degrees, he was well read and exceptionally well spoken in the areas of computational chemistry and condensed matter physics.

It was simple for me; I wanted him on my team. Jasper, however, was another matter entirely.

"Absolutely not." He tossed aside the book he had been reading. "I don't like him."

"You don't even _know_ him." I pointed out.

"I know enough. I know that I don't like the way he looks at you and I know that he didn't spend _two hours_ talking to you about pistons and gear shafts _just_ to get a job."

"Right, because spending two hours talking about work related issues on a job interview is just _crazy_." I said, rolling my eyes. "What was _I_ thinking?"

"I don't know what you were thinking, but I could damn sure tell what he was thinking by the way he was looking at your ass!"

"Hey! We're trying to watch TV." Rose pointed out. "Take that garbage somewhere else."

"You're just faulting the man because he's intelligent." I whispered, avoiding Rosie's death glares.

"No, I'm faulting the man because of the way he looks at you. Plus he's got those creepy little hands."

"His hands are not creepy or little-"

"What were you doing looking at his hands?" He demanded, standing up to face me.

"You're being unreasonable."

"Jazz," Peter said, "you're seriously -"

"Stay out of this Peter," he addressed his brother and turned back to me. "No, unreasonable is you thinking that _I _would be alright with you locked in a tiny lab with someone who asked you out, and clearly has a thing for you," he whispered out loud back to me.

"People please," Char said, pointing at the TV. "American Idol. Shhh!"

"That was months ago. Besides, what do you think is gonna happen now anyway?"

"Nothing is going to happen because you're going to find someone else." He picked up his book again, and reclaimed his spot on the sofa, effectively dismissing me.

"You act like I'm looking to hire someone to sweep the floor," I continued, undismayed by his behavior. "I need someone who understands how a lab works; someone who sees my vision and can anticipate what I need before I even ask them."

Jasper tossed the book aside again, and jumped to his feet. "That fucker will not be anticipating _anything_ from you. Find. Someone. Else." He said, through clenched teeth.

Mad would not even begin to describe the emotions that I was feeling; I was furious. Jasper had just dismissed me like an errant child, laying down _his _law without giving me a valid reason for why he felt the way he did.

Part of me wanted to just drop the issue and find another candidate. It was obvious that he was jealous, though he had no right to be. The other part of me, the roaring diva part of me, told me to stand up to him.

I really don't know what came over me. Much later on that night Jasper would try to console me and say that he was proud of me for expressing my feelings. I couldn't even begin to describe it; other than it was like I was standing on the sidelines watching someone else, with my same face and features, pull back their arm and punch Jasper dead center in the nose. He howled and stumbled back, falling onto the sofa and then rolled off onto the floor.

"Holy shit!" Rose yelled, running over to us. "That was some punch!"

"What the fuck Bella?" Jasper moaned.

"Ohmigod! You're bleeding!" Char shrieked.

I stood there, legs paralyzed, wringing my hands in shock and worry. Peter was on the floor rolling with laughter.

"Forget American Idol, this shit is pay-per-view boxing!" Rose joked.

"Oh God Jasper, I'm so sorry!" Finally my legs started working; I ran and knelt down over him, cradling his head in my lap. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I cried. "I broke your beautiful nose."

He pulled away the hand on his nose and looked at it. A small trickle of blood ran down one nostril and over his lip. It had already started to clot though.

"Serves you right!" Peter was still on the floor, literally crying with laughter, tears streaming down his rosy cheeks.

"I'm fine Bella. Calm down baby." He sat up on his own, holding his head between his hands. "Good to know you learned something in my self defense class."

"Somebody go get some ice!" I yelled at one of the girls.

"C'mon Char, let's haul ass before we catch a beat down for not doing what she says," Rose giggled.

He winced as I dabbed at the blood on his nose and lip with a tissue. "Jasper, I-I d-don't know w-what came over me. I was just so mad."

"It's okay babe, nothing's broken. It's just a little sore, that's all."

Peter finally picked himself up off the floor and made his way over to us. He grabbed my hand and held up my arm. "DING DING DING! Ladies and Gentleman, the light weight champion of Sound Beach, Isabella 'Lil Mama' McCarty!"

"That's enough Peter," Jasper said in a warning tone. He sighed and accepted the ice pack Char handed him. Instead of using the ice for his nose, Jasper took my hand and wrapped the pack around my knuckles. "You're already down one arm, you workin' on the other too?"

"Jasper, your nose-"

"It's fine, it's not broken." He repeated. "Now if you'd punched me with your right hand, that maybe a different story."

I lightly touched the bridge of his nose. A small bump had formed but other than that there was nothing to indicate that it was broken. "You can't just go laying down the law without any valid reason and expect me to be okay about it."

"Yeah, that was a real Edward thing to do." Rose said, flopping down on the sofa, resuming her TV watching.

Jasper shot her a dirty look in which Rose responded with a not so nice hand gesture. "Alright, I didn't mean to just tell you what to do. But Bella, you don't know anything about this guy other than what's on his resume," Jasper argued.

"And you don't know anything about him other than he has small hands," I countered.

"You guys are making this way too hard. Let the background check determine if you hire him or not," Peter offered. "You'll have to do one on him anyway. If he's clean, then hire him. If not, then tell him to fuck off."

We both agreed to Peter's suggestion. Jasper grumbled something under his breath, not liking the fact that James Cope was still a potential job candidate. "I've still got a funny feeling about this guy."

* * *

"Babe, we're late." Jasper said impatiently, tapping his watch with a finger. "The show starts at eight and we still have an hour drive." He pointed out.

I stood in the mirror looking at my reflection, turning to look at the back of the dress and then the front again. We were going to an off Broadway production, and while formal dress was not required; I still wanted to look nice. The New York City Arts Council in conjunction with McCarty Enterprises had asked Emmett to present the production company with an award for participating in community activities. Since Emmett was out of the country on business, the responsibility fell to me.

This was also my first official outing as a single woman. After spending countless hours talking across international time zones, Emmett and I along with the help of a public relations/image consultant finalized a statement that would announce the 'dissolution of engagement'. Calling it that made it seem like I was ending a contract; in a way that's exactly what it was. I was no longer under any obligation to Edward and his illusion of a relationship.

The simple statement had been prepared and would be transmitted via email at midnight to trusted contacts at several large newspapers and magazines. Emmett agreed to take on the task of calling Edward around eleven that night to inform him that the news would break in the morning.

And that made me nervous. Neither of us could predict what Edward's reaction would be. We hadn't heard from him in more than three weeks, and I was not naive enough to believe that all was said and done when it came to the new resident Crime boss.

"Does this dress make me look fat?"

"What?"

"_Does this dress make me look fat?"_ I repeated, not liking his hesitation.

"No, that dress does not make you look fat. Neither did either of the other ten you tried on."

"But look at the way my butt looks in this." I bent forward slightly, wiggling my butt in the mirror. "It kinda looks like I'm packing pillows back there." I poked a butt check with a finger.

"Bella, you're asking me about your butt? Seriously, let's go. I still have to find a parking spot once we get there, remember?"

I turned to the side to check my profile, sucking in my stomach and then exhaling it out. "But maybe the black dress would look better. Black is slimming."

Jasper sighed and took my hands into his. "I know you're nervous about the statement tomorrow and the media response and Edward, but relax babe. I'm gonna be there with you the whole way through this. Okay?" He released my hands only to run his hands down over my hips and cup my butt. "And this," he squeezed for emphasis, "is fabulous." He placed tiny kisses on my neck and whispered in my ear. "And tonight when we get home, I'm gonna show you how fabulous I think it is."

My stomach flip-flopped at his words and I was tempted to tell him to forget the play; we could have our own performance in the privacy of our bedroom.

"I just wish you could _be there_, be there tonight with me."

Because we had not yet had an opportunity to inform Emmett of our relationship status, and the fact that the statement was about to be published, it would be best to not appear in public as a couple yet. Jasper would be attending by my side as simply my bodyguard.

He placed a kiss on my forehead, letting his lips linger there. I closed my eyes and breathed him in, allowing his clean soapy male scent to calm my nerves.

"Soon baby, I promise." He grabbed my purse off of the bathroom counter with one hand and wrapped the other around my waist, gently guiding me to the door. "Let's go."

"Right there, there's one." I pointed out a vacant parking space as Jasper drove right by it. "Why didn't you pull in?"

Because of my fear of parking garages, Tyler would usually just drop us at the front entrance of McCarty Enterprises and then go park the car underground himself. But when venturing into the City for activities other than work, we usually parked in one of those open-air parking lots.

Tonight the lots within a five-block radius were all filled. That left side-of-the-street-curb parking. Something Jasper was not fond of at all. He did not want to leave his Audi, his first baby as he explained it, sitting vulnerable for scratches and dings.

"The space is too tight and poorly lit."

"Jasper, we have ten minutes to find a spot and get to the theater." I reminded him.

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye as if to remind me that it was my fault we were late in the first place. Thankfully for him, he didn't say what he was obviously thinking.

"I'll drive around one more time."

We ended up circling the theater twice more before Jasper found a suitable parking space closer to the theater front entrance.

"Ready?" He asked, giving my hand one last squeeze before letting go.

I took a deep breath. "I suppose. Remember, the cast after party will start at ten. I present the award at half past and then we can leave."

He leaned across the armrest and kissed me softly. "And you just remember, I'm right beside you so don't be nervous."

As it turned out we were late and the ushers were seconds from shutting the doors on our boxed seats when we arrived. We made brief introductions with the two other couples that were sharing the small space with us just as the lights were dimming. Under the cover of darkness, Jasper took my hand once again and tucked it under his arm. I breathed a sigh of relief, needing his comforting touch.

_Wicked_ is the untold musical story of _The Wizard of Oz_'s Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch, all taking place before Dorothy dropped in via her tornado. The show was wonderful and as the curtains dropped signaling intermission, the theater crowd stood applauding the performance.

"You said that your name was Isabella McCarty?" One of the ladies asked me as we made our way through the crowd to the ladies room.

"Yes ma'am."

She snapped her fingers. "Yes, you're Elizabeth McCarty's daughter! I thought you looked just like her."

With her exclamation I stopped dead in my tracks, perched precariously on the edge of the step I was standing on. Jasper immediately reached out to steady me, edging our way through the crowd to the stair railing so that I wouldn't fall. It was very rare for someone to mention that they knew my mother and it never ceased to amaze me how it made my heart jump to hear her name.

"You knew my mother?" I asked, greedy for any information she would part with.

She nodded. "Only briefly, but we were close considering. We were on the New York City Arts Council together, probably right before you were born." She touched my face. "You have her eyes," she said softly, tiny tears visible in the corner of her eyes.

"Will you tell me about her?" I asked eagerly.

She laughed and pressed a business card in my hand. "Call me. We'll talk."

I looked down at the card. "Kate Whitcomb."

"Yes, and this is my husband Garrett."

We shook hands. "This is Jasper Whitlock, head of my security."

Kate Whitcomb cocked her head to the side, looked at Jasper and then smirked at me. Her actions seemed to say 'yeah right, that's not all he is', but she said nothing to that effect.

Having only a few minutes more left for intermission, I excused myself and ran to the ladies room. Thankfully there wasn't a line and I finished rather quickly.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is, my future _sister_."

A chill went up my spine at the sound of that voice. I dropped the lip gloss back into my purse and turned slightly to see Tanya Masen standing directly behind me, looking like a satisfied cat that had just caught the rat. I turned back to the mirror ignoring her.

"What brings you out of hiding?" She asked, sauntering up to the sink next to me.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean Tanya."

She looked down at the cast on my arm then our gazes locked in the mirror in front of us.

"He loves you, you know?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I got the memo." I held up my broken wrist.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch about it?" She demanded, turning to stare at me, eyes full of hate. "You're nothing like your brother. He's compassionate and loving."

I snapped my clutch purse closed and turned to look at her. I knew that she was goading me, looking for a violent reaction, and I was determined to not give her one. "Funny, the only thing he's ever said about you is how bad you _suck_." I said, placing emphasis on the _'k'_. "In fact, that's the only thing I've ever heard about you."

He eyes widened when she caught my meaning. She grabbed my arm as I turned to leave.

"Listen here Isabella McCarty, you walk around here with your head in the air, thinkin' that your shit don't stink, but I'm gonna tell you otherwise. You'd better watch your back or-"

I yanked my arm out of her grasp, pushing her back with the motion. She stumbled back into the sink.

"Or what, you'll come after me?" I took a step closer to her, my finger pointing in her face. "Try it bitch. But let me tell you something," I poked her in the chest with my finger as I spoke, "you'd better be damn sure you bring the army with you. I've got nine fuckin' lives and two of them are dyin' to beat your ass."

With that I turned on my heel and strode out of the ladies room, head held high and with a swagger in my step that belied the slight nervous quiver that ran down my back. Jasper was waiting outside of the ladies room, leaning against a marble column, arms crossed, looking like he had just stepped out of an Armani photo shoot. He was watching me with a devilish glint in his eye.

The crowd in the lobby area had started to thin out; people were making their way back to their seats for the second half of the play. I stopped about ten feet from him. When our eyes connected, we were the only ones in the place; time stopped and everything else ceased to exist. He pushed off the column and walked toward me.

My heart actually fluttered in my chest as he approached, and I felt my arousal blossom, pooling in my La Perla's. Without a word I turned in the opposite direction from our boxed seats and headed for the front door. If he was wondering where we were headed he made no indication of it, just followed beside me as I made it down the block to his car.

"Bella-"

I grabbed his tie and pulled him down to me, catching his lips with my own and slamming him back against his car. He grunted at the force that I used and hesitated for a second, no doubt concerned that we were standing out in the open.

"Keys." I demanded.

He fumbled in his pockets for the keys as I continued my assault, my lips against his. I took the keys out of his hand and clicked the alarm off before opening the back doors and crawling inside.

He leaned down, peering inside, arms braced on the top of the car and door."Bella, what are you –"

"Get in." I yanked on his tie again, pulling him into the car and shutting the door behind him.

He stilled my hands that were pulling his shirt out of his pants. "Babe, what's going on?"

"I want you." It was the only explanation that I could offer him at the moment. Lust had clouded my brain, making it near impossible to formulate additional words. I had an uncontrollable urge, no need, to feel him inside of me. I wanted him rough; I wanted him slamming into to me.

He released my hands only to capture my face between his own. His actions halted my attack on his clothes. Whatever he saw in my eyes he didn't verbalize, and he didn't offer any further resistance. No words needed, we both knew what was going to happen.

I inched my dress up, shimmied out of my underwear and crawled into his lap, straddling his hips as I worked on freeing his shirt from his pants. His cock was hard, straining against its confinement and pressing into my thigh. His eyes closed and his head fell back against the seat when I slipped my hand down the front of his pants.

I stroked him eagerly, salivating with the desire to have his monster cock in my mouth. I had not yet had that pleasure, and I would need more time than what we currently had to explore that area of him. Right now I just needed to _fuck_.

With feet planted firmly on the floor of the car, Jasper lifted his hips in order to pull his pants down. I took him in my hand again, running my fingers over the head of his penis and spreading the pre-cum around his tip.

I kissed him lightly, nipping at his lips with my teeth. His hands cupped my ass, lifting me, but I stopped him and reached for my purse. Inside it was right where I left it; I pulled out the silver foil packet and held it up between my fingers for him.

Jasper grinned and took the condom. I watched excitedly as he tore open the packet and rolled the latex down over his cock. Sex is a messy affair and we still had business to attend to; I didn't want his jizz running down my leg as I presented the award.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, lifted my hips and slammed down on him. Relief flooded my body and I cried out my satisfaction. Jasper sensed my urgency, lifted me and slammed me back down again. He gasped, squeezing his eyes tight as I rode his dick.

"Fuck!" He yelled, as I redoubled my efforts.

"Need…to…cum…Jazz!"

He ran his hands up and down my thighs, thumbs circling my clit. I lifted my hips and came down on him twice more before my body exploded around him. Jasper turned me around, pinning me to the seat of the car. He thrust twice more and he came.

"What time is it?" I asked him a few moments later. I could still feel my heart slamming against my rib cage.

He looked at his watch. "We've got about twenty minutes." He pulled out of me, holding the top of the condom so that it wouldn't spill. He wrapped the latex in a tissue from my purse and after readjusting his own clothes, stepped out of the car so that I could get myself under control.

I located my panties, wiggled back into them and then attempted to fix my hair and makeup. The temperature in the car started to cool, erasing the fog on the black tinted windows. Once I was satisfied that I was back to normal and that I didn't have that just been fucked look, I opened the car door and allowed Jasper to pull me out.

I started back toward the theater but he caught my hand and pulled me back.

"Hold on one second lil' mama."

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" He asked, eyes boring into mine. He took a deep breath. "Look baby, you can't just do that to me and not clue me into what's going on."

"You didn't like it?"

"That's not the point B."

"What is the point then?" I asked, growing irritated.

He sighed and pulled me into his arms. "I love being with you, in _every_ way, but when you use sex to keep from telling me that something's not right, then that's not cool. Now tell me what's wrong."

"Jazz we're gonna be late."

"Fuck that, this is between you and me. Team B and J, remember? Tell me."

I took a deep breath. "Tanya Masen."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing really, just being her regular skanky self."

"Edward's here?" He asked, looking around as if Edward would pop out from behind a light pole.

"I don't know."

"Okay, just stay by my side. We'll get through this and then get the hell home."

"J?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for using you like that. Please don't be mad."

He touched my face. "I'm not mad, but remember, you promised me that you'd talk to me about things if something were bothering you."

I nodded. "I know, I promise I'll do better." I said, choking back the tears.

"Everything's okay, we're okay." Jasper kissed me again and then released me. "Where did you get the condom?"

"I borrowed Rose's purse. I think she has an endless supply of them."

My feet were hurting from my shoes and my nerves were on edge with the crowds packed so tightly in the backstage areas. I could hardly move without being jostled and pushed. As soon as I had presented the award and spent enough time taking photos with the newspapers and mingling with the members of the Arts Council, Jasper pushed our way through the crowds to the doors.

"Jasper Whitlock! Jasper!"

Jasper turned at the sound of his name being screamed above the constant roar of the crowd. A small, leprechaun-ish woman launched herself at him. He caught her and stumbled back with the force she had hurled her tiny body at him.

I know that I am short, but at five feet one I was still taller than her by a good three inches. She was jumping up and down as if she were bouncing on a pogo stick, clapping her hands and squealing like a trained seal. I wanted to stomp on her head to get her to shut up.

"Ohmigod! Ohmigod! It's been so long since we've seen each other!"

"Hello Alice, how have-"

She interrupted and launched herself at him again, only this time locking her face to his in a death grip kiss. I didn't know anything about this woman other than the fact that her name was Alice and she was about to get a mud hole stomped in her for kissing my man.

To Jasper's credit, he was caught completely off guard but he was doing all that he could to untangle her arms from around his neck and to un-stick her suction like lips. That was the only thing that saved him from my wrath.

He shook her off of him and stepped back, closer to me, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.

"I've wanted to call you for so long, but something kept telling me to wait. And then I _saw_ you in my dreams and I just knew that it wouldn't be long before we ran into each other again!" Her spiky hair bounced around as she talked making her look like a demented troll doll.

Jasper held up his hands, warning her off as she attempted to latch herself to him again.

"Whoa Alice, slow down."

"But you're here! And I'm here, and it's like fate or something. Ya know?"

"Alice, I'm working."

"Working?"

I cleared my throat and stepped around Jasper, holding out my hand. She looked at me and eyed my hand before accepting.

"Isabella McCarty, Jasper works for me."

"Ohmigod boss lady. I hope I didn't get my Jazzy-poo into any trouble!"

"Jazzy-poo?" I asked, looking at Jasper out of the corner of my eye. He was bright red with embarrassment and now sweating.

"Oh, it's just a nickname. I'm his Pixie!" She stepped forward and hooked her arm through his. Jasper pushed her hands away and stepped back again.

"Oh really?" I asked, itching to know who this _woman_ was to him.

Jasper cleared his throat, a sure sign that he was nervous and a little scared. "Alice and I dated for a while several years ago." He explained. "What are you doing here Alice?"

"I work with the production company silly! I'm the head choreographer. And we dated for more than a 'while' Jasper Whitlock; it was more like three years!" She stomped her foot in a pout, hands on her hips.

"Oh, three years? That is quite a while." I agreed, looking at Jasper out of the corner of my eye.

"We have to go." Jasper said abruptly, guiding me past Alice. "It was good seeing you again Alice. I hope all continues to go well for you."

"Nice meeting you Alice."

"Call me Jasper!" She yelled out after us.

"You actually dated her?" I asked once we were safely inside the car again.

"Yes," he said tightly, rolling down the window. The car had a sweaty sex smell to it and I knew that Jasper would be shampooing the seats first thing in the morning. "It was a long time ago."

"Why did you break up?"

He turned on the radio. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"But-"

"Later. I promise we'll talk about it later."

We drove the rest of the way home in silence. Whatever had transpired between Jasper and his ex girlfriend had him on edge. He drummed along to the music and fidgeted in his seat. Jasper was not one to shift around or make unnecessary movements unless he was stressed or in deep thought about something. I wanted to press the issue, but decided to leave it alone for now. It had been a long day and we were both tired.

"Hey beautiful, wake up."

I felt Jasper's lips against my face and opened my eyes at his insistence.

I looked around; we were in the garage. Jasper was crouched down at my door, and had already unhooked my seat belt. "We're home already?"

"Yup, come on." He took my hand and pulled me out of the car.

We walked in through the kitchen where Peter had his laptop and brief case spread out over the breakfast table. He was surrounded by stacks of paper, all background information on the people from my list that I had given him several weeks ago. I was astounded at the amount of information that he had been able to obtain in such a short time period.

"Hey guys. I'm glad you're home. I need to talk to you." Peter said, taking a sip of his beer.

Jasper groaned. "Can't it wait until the morning?"

"No, sit." He commanded. "You gave me a list of fifty." He pulled out the original list. "I've narrowed it down to about twelve people. These people," he pulled out his own list, "are currently working in the area for companies that are funding similar research as yours."

"That's great. Then it shouldn't be too hard to find this jerk off." I said excitedly.

He looked doubtful. "It's not that simple Champ." Peter had taken to calling me 'Champ' now in honor of my little boxing match a few days prior. "We're not the police and I'm not the FBI anymore. It may take days or even weeks of tracking these people down and following them to establish some sort of connection. I'll have to call in favors and do who knows what, to get more information on them. And I can bet you that they are not personally doing this, but have hired someone to do it for them."

"Then how does this help us?"

"It's a start and it's more than we knew when I got this list from you."

We talked for what seemed like hours, going over the list and backgrounds of the twelve. I knew more about that group of people than I had ever wanted to after listening to Peter talk about them.

Around one o'clock I stretched and yawned. I saw Jaspers eyes widen and I knew he must have been looking at my nipples. The thought of what we had been doing earlier had me wet again. "I'm going to bed now."

Jasper jumped up, knocking over the chair he had been sitting in. "Yeah, it is getting late. Come on Peter, I know you're tired too." He began shoving Peter's papers into the bag.

"Yeah, in a little while." He took his papers back out. "I wanted to talk to you about some things before tomorrow."

I dropped a kiss on Jasper's and Peter's forehead. "I guess I'll see you guys in the morning." I took one last longing look at Jasper and shrugged, mouthing to him that I would wait up for him.

I showered and waited for Jasper to come up the stairs. I waited and waited, eventually falling to sleep without him. It was around three o'clock when I felt him slide into bed behind me. His body was cold and I immediately squirmed away from him.

"You're cold."

"Come here and warm me up then."

He kissed me until my head was spinning. "Well, not all of you is cold." I felt his erection pressing against me. "Did you have a nice talk with Peter?"

"That bastard talks forever." He rolled me over, back on my side and spooned me. His hand ran up and down my outer thigh. He rose up a little and looked down at me. "What are you wearing?"

I was wearing his long sleeved blue and white-stripped button down shirt and a pair of the cheeky panties that he liked so much. "It's your shirt."

He groaned and punched his pillow before lying back down. "Go to back to sleep baby, we've had a long day."

"Hey J?"

"Yeah babe?"

"If I ever see you kiss another woman again, I'll rip your lips off."

He coughed. "I can deal with that."

I woke up much later to the sound of thunder cracking and the wind howling. It had not yet started to rain but the sky was gray, casting a dim muted light through the windows. Jasper was snoring softly in my ear and I hated to move him, but my bladder would not be persuaded to hold off any longer. I slipped out of his arms and quietly tip-toed to the bathroom. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the bright light.

I brushed my teeth and tried to tame my wild hair before going back to bed. Jasper rolled toward me and slipped his hands under my shirt.

"Sleep well?"

"Yup," I said popping the '_p_'. "Jazzy-poo." I teased him, imitating Alice's voice.

"Don't call me that."

"Aww, it's a great pet name Jazzy-poo."

"Bella," he warned.

"Why don't you like it Jazzy-poo?" I pretended to pout.

"Seriously Bella, stop."

I continued to egg him on. "I spend all my time tryin' to think of a suitable nick name and then you don't even like it Jazzy-poo?" I laughed.

"That's it!"

He grabbed me and held me down while tickling me. I shrieked with laughter; laughing so hard that tears ran down my cheeks. I managed to wiggle out from under him and ran across the room before he caught me and carried me back to the bed. He dropped me on the bed and stood on the mattress, jumping up and down over me and jostling the bed so that I could not get up.

"Take it back! Take it back!" He chanted, laughing with me.

I reached up and yanked down the basketball shorts that he was wearing, not surprised that he was going commando. Jasper did not like sleeping in clothes at all and only wore the basketball shorts because the night air was too cool to not wear something, but not cool enough to turn the heat on.

The sight of his now fully erect cock turned our little tickle session into way more than either of us had planned. "Dance for me baby!" I hooted, waving my hand in the air like I was about to put money in his invisible g-string.

He kicked his shorts off the bed and rolled his hips, popping his ass out and then slapping it. I giggled and hooted some more.

And then we both heard it at the same time. Rose was yelling at someone and before Jasper could step off the bed our bedroom door crashed open and Emmett charged through, Rose being dragged in behind him.

"Get away from my sister!"

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**A/N: Evil cliffy I know! **

**Oh no! Emmett's home early!**

**Let me know what you're thinking!**

**Thanks to all of you for your suggestions and comments! They mean more to me than you know.**


	15. Chapter 15

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Thanks Cullen818 and JamesRamsey for your amazing work and words of encouragment when I was ready to quit!**

**SM owns it! However I do own a demented Jack Russeel/Rat terrier dog that runs around my coffee table at top speed until he collapses!**

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****JPOV**

I was so tired. Between dealing with Bella's emotions and spontaneous sexcapdes, Tanya's threats, possibly Edward being at the theater and then finally Alice, I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to just crawl _under_ the bed and stay there for a few days hibernating.

I was counting the seconds sitting there listening to Peter go on and on about some shit I knew I needed to be listening to, but really couldn't give a damn about at the moment. My thoughts were on those nipples and the ass that they went with, three floors up.

I got up to pace, forcing myself to listen to Peter. I had to ask him to repeat a few things and he did, a little annoyed with me. Finally Peter shut up and agreed to resume talking in the morning; I practically ran up the stairs, undressing as I went.

Bella was sleeping so peacefully that I almost didn't want to disturb her, and briefly considered going to bed in my old room across the hall. But then I heard her call my name in her sleep and I knew there was no other place for me. She woke immediately when I touched her, squirming away from my cold body.

She was wearing my shirt and those sexy cheeky panties that I loved. JW was about the only part of my body that wasn't ready for bed and he protested when I told Bella to just go back to sleep. I knew she was tired as well and we both knew that there wasn't going to be any lovin' tonight.

It was close to eight a.m. when I woke again to Bella sliding back into bed. She had brushed her teeth and tried to tame the haystack sitting on top of her head. She looked adorable and I couldn't help but to slip my hands under my shirt that she was wearing to catch a quick feel.

Then she started joking on me about the nickname that Alice had given me. Truth be told, I hated that nickname with a passion. I was amazed at how cool Bella played it the night before when Alice had kissed me. I was sure that I would not have been able to keep my cool if some strange guy had approached Bella and done that to her. I would have kicked his ass for just looking at her.

For Bella to be joking around about it, when I knew that she had questions about who Alice was to me and the fact that I wasn't immediately forthcoming with information; just showed what a fuckin' awesome chick she is.

I warned her about calling me that name, but she kept on, taunting me. Then I grabbed her, tickled her and refused to let go. She shrieked and squealed, only managing to briefly slip out of my arms. I caught her, dumped her back on the bed and started jumping up and down on the mattress.

With hands fast as lighting she yanked my shorts down around my ankles; of course I wasn't wearing any underwear. I loved the fact that Bella was awed by JW. Her eyes would light up brighter than a stage at a strip club every time I whipped him out.

I kicked my shorts off the bed and she hooted for me to dance for her. Just as I was getting into my grove, shaking my junk in her face, we both heard Rose yelling.

Now, Rose was one loud mouth broad in everyday _regular_ conversation, but the way she was yelling indicated that something was really _really_ wrong. Before I could even jump off the bed and find my shorts the bedroom door crashed open and Emmett charged in, dragging poor Rose behind him.

"Get away from my sister!"

All the blood in my entire body seemed to drain out of me, rendering me paralyzed. No man wants to see another man dancing butt ass naked in front of his sister. JW, sensing danger afoot, did the fireman's tuck and roll, hiding out and leaving me to my own devices. _Thanks a lot lil' buddy! _

"Holy hot damn!" Rose yelled. "Is that thing real?"

Apparently JW didn't roll fast enough because Rose caught an eye full. Bella, bless her soul, slid off the bed and tossed me my shorts while moving toward Emmett.

"Hey Em, whatcha doin' home so early?" She asked, voice quivering slightly.

The way he was looking at her, and then me; made my limbs start moving again. I didn't want her anywhere near Emmett looking the way he did; like he was hell bent on murdering some fuckin' body. I stepped forward cautiously, putting myself between them; if he was going to lash out I wanted to be the buffer between his temper and Bella.

Bella hooked her arm through mine and muttered something about being careful, that she loved my nuts just where they were and to not do anything stupid that would get them ripped off. I looked down at her out of the corner of my eye and she responded with a little shrug and a _what- I'm- just- sayin'_ expression on her face.

"Hey Emmett, let's go-"

"I thought I told you to get the fuck away from my sister," he said, through clenched teeth.

I held up my hands, palms out, in a surrender peaceful manner. Yeah, he might have told me to get away from Bella, but I'd be damned if listened to him. There was no other place for me to be than defending and protecting my woman.

"Look, let's just sit down and talk-"

"Talk? You wanna talk?" He threw down the newspapers he had been clutching in his hand. "Fine, then let's talk about you fuckin' my sister when I told you to stay away from her! Let's talk about you pawing my sister in public like she's some sort of street whore! Let's talk about the media circus camped out damn near on our front lawn just because of this shit!" He kicked the papers, scattering them.

Bella retrieved the newspapers and tabloids off the floor. There was a huge photograph displaying Bella and I locked in a kiss on the street the night before. The accompanying article was entitled 'Good Girl Gone Bad: Isabella McCarty caught with Secret Lover'. The photo was perfectly clear; there was no doubt about who it was.

"Emmett-"

"Don't you fuckin' 'Emmett' me!" He yelled.

It happened so fast that I didn't even see his fist coming until it connected with my face. I fell back against the bed, hoping that he hadn't fractured the bones in my face. Bella and Rose were screaming at me to duck as he charged me. I managed to get up and throw a punch only for him to knock me back down again.

I got up and threw a right hook, not putting all of my strength behind it. I just wanted to stun him, hoping that it would bring him back to his senses so that Bella didn't have to see me pummel her brother. No such luck. Emmett was beyond angry and there was nothing I could do to stop his rage.

He attacked me with a vengeance; I collided with the nightstand and the lamp crashed to the floor. Bella was pulling on his arms and I was yelling at her to get back. I didn't want her in the middle of two bears going at it.

"Bella get back!" I hollered at her again.

"Emmett, stop this!" Rose yelled.

"I fuckin' told you to stay away from her!" Emmett roared.

"Please Emmett don't!" Bella pleaded, pulling on his arm. "Emmett, I love him!"

I didn't know if Emmett was reacting to the last punch I had hit him with, or possibly the impact of Bella's words when he turned and shoved her backwards off of him. Something inside of me snapped when I saw her tiny body crash into the wooden dresser on the other side of the room. Peter pulled me off of him before I could incapacitate him further for hurting her with his carelessness. Rose and Char were kneeling beside Bella, but immediately got out of my way as I approached.

"Bella?" I dropped down to my knees in front of her, cupping her face between my hands and wiping her tears away with my thumbs.

"Please don't fight anymore," she begged.

"Baby, are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, I'm fine. Please stop fighting."

I ran my hands down her arms, checking for injuries. "B, are you sure? It's okay; you can tell me if something hurts."

"No, I'm okay. I just fell, that's all. Promise."

"Did you mean what you just said?" I asked, scared as hell that she had only said it in the heat of the moment. Maybe it wasn't the right time for this conversation, but I needed to know what I was getting myself into.

She dropped her head, refusing to look at me. "It's okay if you don't feel the same way."

"No! I love you too!" I said quickly, wanting to ease her mind that I felt the same way as she did.

"Really?"

"Yes, more than anything." I kissed her softly and rested my forehead against hers.

"I was so afraid that you didn't feel the same way," she said softly.

"I'm so in love with you Bella…"

"Bella?" Emmett asked, walking toward us and interrupting our moment.

I felt the sound building in my chest, a low growl similar to what animals make when warning off potential attackers. "Back off Emmett." I warned, coming to a half crouch half stand in front of her. After seeing him push her I didn't want him or anyone else coming near her.

"Bella are you okay?" He asked, ignoring my warning and still advancing.

"Emmett I swear to God, you had better _back the fuck off_."

A tingling sensation went through my body, adrenal glands pumping in preparation for war. I remember feeling a similar sensation during my time in the desert. When bombs are going off and guns are being fired in your direction, you fight with everything you've got. But this was different; I had never felt a need so strong to protect someone _else _before. Bella was my life, my purpose, the reason I fuckin' existed and Emmett walking toward her was a threat to all of that. I would rip him to shreds if he so much as touched her.

I knew that I needed to calm down; I kept telling myself that this was her brother and that he would not purposely hurt her, but at the same time my instincts were on hyper-drive. Bella seemed to sense my mood and said nothing to deter me, but in fact clung tighter to me.

"Emmett," Peter said and clamped a hand on his shoulder, "just back up bro, she's alright."

Thankfully Emmett had the good sense to stop about five feet from where I was still crouched protectively over Bella. He stood there, breathing hard and watching us, before speaking.

"How could you do this to me?" Emmett asked me.

"To _you_? This is so not about you Emmett." I said, coming out of the crouch.

"I fuckin' trusted you. You were my best friend and you betray me like this?"

"It's not like that Emmett." Bella told him.

"Then tell me how it is; because to me, it looks a helluva lot like deception."

"You were wrong in the first place," Rose said to Emmett. "Why would you even try to keep them apart? It's obvious to the rest of us how much they mean to each other."

There were times when I wanted to strangle Rose for some of the things she said. But right now, I would kiss her if it weren't for Bella's previous threat to rip my lips off for kissing another woman.

"Stay the fuck out of this Rose," he snapped angrily at her.

Peter and I stepped forward to defend her, but Rose held up her hand signaling that she had it under control. She took a step forward and slapped him. Emmett stood there staring at her, rubbing the spot where her hand connected with his face, not saying anything.

Bella pulled open the top drawer and took out a little black box. She tossed it at Emmett; he caught it effortlessly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Open it," she barked at him when he just looked at the box. "You want to talk about deception? How long have you been fuckin' my best friend Emmett? How long have you been deceiving her? _How long?_"

I wanted to know where Bella had found those cufflinks, but this was not the time or place to play catch up.

"Four years." Rose confirmed, as Emmett stared at the platinum and diamond 'E' cuff links in his hand. "I've been waiting for you to make up your mind for four fuckin' years."

Tears streamed down her cheeks. Bella and Char went to her immediately, wrapping her in their arms. I didn't like the fact that Bella was that much closer to Emmett and his anger, but Rose needed her now.

Emmett snapped the box shut and held it tightly in the palm of his hand. "This is not about us. This is about my sister spread all over every motherfuckin' newspaper and tabloid in the world." He snatched the newspapers off of the bed where Bella had tossed them and held them up, shaking them at us. "We got clearance for an early flight. By the time we got over the Pacific, Tom thought he heard a noise in one of the engines. We made it to Hawaii so that he could check it out, and when I got out to stretch my legs, guess what I see in the airport terminal? You," he pointed at me, "with your hands all over my sister's ass on the front page of the _Inquirer, The New York Times and The Boston Globe_!"

He threw the newspaper down again. "And what's worse, if you read the articles, they've quoted Edward as saying how hurt he is at your indiscretions! What the fuck am I supposed to do about that?"

"You're such a fuckin' hypocrite!" Bella screamed at him. "You aren't concerned with my happiness at all! Or Rose's for that matter. All you care about are appearances!"

"Appearances; really Bella? Is that what you accuse me of considering that you've got a Crime Boss thinkin' you cheated on him with the hired help _and _photos to prove it. _I'm_ worried about saving your ass."

"That's _my_ job." I said, stepping forward.

"Right, and this shit," he kicked the newspaper, "shows that you can't stay incognito. This shows that you're lettin' your dick run the show!"

In a way he was right. I had been careless, caught up in lust and Bella could have gotten hurt. We both could have gotten killed. How many times would I keep fucking up like this?

"No." Bella said. "Do not put this blame on Jasper. If you hadn't laid down Emmett's law like fuckin' Judge Judy or some shit, none of this would have happened this way. You should have just backed me completely when I said no to Edward's proposal!"

"I was trying to –"

"Look Emmett," I said, interrupting him. I was growing tired of the conversation and didn't want to hear any more excuses or reasons why he allowed the situation with Edward to get out of control. "I did not set out to hurt you or to betray you and we can't change what happened between Bella and Edward. The fact of the matter is, I love Bella. And I will do anything to make sure she is safe and well."

"That's not your job anymore. You're fired!"

Rose laughed. "You think that's going to keep them apart?"

"Stay the fuck out of this Rose." Emmett warned her again.

"You talk about deception," Bella said, "are you fuckin Tanya Masen?"

Emmett hesitated in his answer. I could see Rose literally holding her breath waiting on him to speak.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Answer the question," Bella commanded.

He held up the little black box. "It's obvious, this says I'm not."

"No, that just means you can't fully dress yourself after a booty call." Rose snapped, hands on her hips. "Answer the fuckin' question McCarty."

Five sets of eyes stared at him, waiting on him to answer.

"No, I'm not fucking Tanya Masen." He spoke directly to Rose. "I care way too much about you to do that. But what the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"There must be some reason you wanted to keep what we _had_ a secret." Rose pointed out. Neither of us missed the fact that she said 'had'. "So, were there others if not Tanya?"

"This is not about us!" He yelled. "It's about them and the fact that they lied to me."

"And what have we been doing to Bella and the rest of our friends? We've been sneaking around for four years Em. We've been lying to each other about how we really feel for _four years_. I've been an emotional mess, hiding behind bad jokes and perverted stories about imaginary men that I've been with.

"Why? All to keep it under wraps because _you_ _said so!_ You're the only one I've _ever_ been with, you're the only man I've _ever _loved and I couldn't tell anybody because _you said so_!" Rose dissolved into a puddle of tears again. Bella and Char went to her again offering comfort. "How can you accuse them of the very thing we've been doing? The only difference is that Jasper had enough balls to stand up for his woman," she sobbed.

He went to comfort her, but she held up her hands to him, rebuffing him. The room was dead silent. No one so much as breathed out loud as Em and Rose stood in a face off, silent tears running down her cheeks. I was ashamed at the way Emmett had acted toward Rose. She was a beautiful woman and she deserved better.

"Then what is the real story about Tanya? Every time I see her she's throwing you in my face," Bella said.

Emmett hesitated, looking back and forth between his sister and Rose. "There is nothing sexual going on between Tanya and I. A few months ago she came to me with a business idea that she needed financial advice on. Occasionally we meet and discuss business only."

"You expect me to believe that?" Rose asked. "Why wouldn't she just have gone to her brother?"

"I don't care what you believe." Emmett said curtly. "There is no reason for me to lie about it. And she didn't want to go to Edward about this because she wanted to keep her business free from the 'family' business. Her shit is legit and Edward's new reputation would only sully it."

"What is this really about Emmett?" Peter asked. "If it's not really about appearances and if it's not really about them hiding it from you, then what is the _real_ issue?"

Emmett yanked on his hair and paced in frustration. "This is dangerous. Surly you can see that! He can get distracted; he already has! And then what, my sister could get killed! Bella is all I've got left."

"I'm not going anywhere Emmett, but I will if you make me choose." Bella said softly. I put my arms around her and kissed her forehead.

Peter nodded. "Simple solution really, one of our other guys can take his spot."

"Hold up, wait a minute." I said, not liking where this was going. There was no way that I was going to have just anyone watching Bella's back. It was already a stretch, letting Peter take her places; and he was my brother! "My objectivity has not been compromised. I am still able to do my job-"

"Will you shut the hell up?" Peter snapped at me impatiently for interrupting his peacemaking session. "It's not like you won't still be there. You'll just have an extra set of eyes."

"How can I trust you?" Emmett asked me.

"How can you not? Because we aren't going to be apart, just because you say so." I threw back at him, still holding on to Bella.

"No, I don't like it," Emmett said stubbornly. "And I don't like being tagged teamed either."

"It doesn't matter." Bella stated with finality. "Peter, find someone to take Jasper's spot. We're willing to meet you half way Em, so you can take it or you can leave it."

"I want to talk to Jasper, alone." Emmett said. "This has gotten way out of hand and it's really only between us anyway."

I felt Bella stiffen in my arms, no doubt worried that if we were alone we would start fighting again. I agreed with Emmett though, his problems were with me and the fact that he felt that I betrayed him. We needed to hash everything out without an audience.

"It's okay B." I whispered in her ear. "We won't fight I promise." I said the last part loud enough for Emmett to hear. He nodded minutely in agreement.

She kissed me softly. "I love you," she whispered before turning to leave. "And I love you too Em. Both of your remember that."

"Hey Bells," Emmett said. "Put some pants on first please."

She looked down at my huge shirt that she was wearing and blushed. It was so long that it looked more like a dress on her than a shirt.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." She ran to the closet and snatched a pair of jeans out before closing the door and leaving us alone.

Emmett was in my face as soon as the door clicked shut.

"Listen Whitlock," he shoved me back against a wall. "For some dumb reason my sister thinks she's in love with you. I know you took her virginity and I'm sure that has something to do with it. Now don't take this as me being okay with this bullshit because I'm not, but if you hurt her, if you lay one fuckin' finger on her in the wrong way, I will Hannibal Lecter your ass so fuckin' fast you'd wish Jeffrey Dahmer found you first. If something happens to her because of you being too stupid to see it before it happened, if you get distracted and she gets hurt, I will filet your dick like Emeril with a set of Ginsu knives. You got it?"

I shoved him right back. "Now you listen to me you worthless piece of shit. If you try to break us up, cause trouble for us in anyway, I'll make sure that there won't be enough pieces of you for an open casket at your funeral. I love her and I'm not going anywhere. Get that through your thick skull." I poked him in the middle of the forehead with my finger. "My only priority is making that woman smile and keeping her alive. Fuck with either of those, and the next time you get some pussy, you'll be sucking on it through a straw."

"Are we straight?"

"No, one more thing." I snatched my tee shirt off the back of the sofa, wincing a little at my newly bruised muscles when I pulled it on. "You apologize to Rose and you help me come up with a decent plan of attack for Edfucktard."

"That's two things, dumbass."

"Fuck off asshole."

* * *

Okay, so Emmett and I weren't exactly best friends again, but we did have one common purpose: Bella, and everything that goes with her. And for a woman so tiny that I could practically put her in my shirt pocket, that was a whole helluva lot of everything.

We agreed to disagree and left it at that. There were bigger things going on that required both of our attention and focus; to spend time hating each other was likely to get someone killed, namely Bella.

I was so in love with this woman that it was unfuckin' real. I wasn't just pussy whipped; I was Bella whipped. I lived and breathed Bella. I wanted to be with her every second of the day. Whether we were fighting about something stupid, discussing the something crazy or just sitting next to one another holding hands, I wanted more, I _needed_ more of her.

I knew Bella felt it too. I could see it in her smile and hear it in her voice when we talked. Tension seemed to ooze out of her body when we were together and everything just clicked. Sure we had our moments, like the night she punched me, but it was also those moments that made us who we were as a couple. No one could say that we had an odd relationship, because it was ours, and we liked it that way.

"Look at this." Rose said, clicking on the Internet page. "It's a video of Edward this morning."

I turned the laptop around so that I could see the screen better. Sure enough it was Edward fuckin' Masen, coming out of his townhouse in the City surrounded by hordes of newspaper reporters and cameramen. They were throwing questions at him left and right, all wanting details about his relationship with Bella and what it meant for them now.

According to the newspapers and tabloids that Em had brought home with him, Edward and Bella had been planning a spring wedding with a month long holiday honeymoon scheduled for the Fiji islands. Apparently they had also booked the Russian Tea Room to host the reception and had several celebrity wedding planners and assistants already on staff and diligently working to accommodate a very demanding bride. The articles went on to list a few of the outrageous demands that Bridezilla had mandated be fulfilled.

"Bottle water from a natural spring source in Cahorts, France, kept chilled at a perfect 33 degrees." Rose read while Bella and I watched the video of Edward. "Three dozen red Calla Lilies flown in daily from a greenhouse in Florida. Hand towels changed after every bathroom use. A constant supply of organic soymilk and a tray of freshly baked organic chocolate chip cookies every day. Door handles and drawer pulls disinfected every two hours. And fresh tropical organic fruit, peeled and cored every morning to sit atop your hand milled organic wheat waffles."

"Are you kidding me?" Bella asked. "It really says all of that?"

Rose laughed. "Yup. Apparently, you're a bitch."

"Listen to this." I turned the volume up on the laptop.

"'_Mr. Masen, Mr. Masen, can you tell us when you first learned of Ms. McCarty's affair'_?" The reporter asked, shoving a microphone in his face.

"No comment." Edward said, showing no emotion at all other than hatred for the media intrusion.

"'_How are you holding up since finding __out about the affair?_'" Another reporter asked.

"No comment," he repeated, getting into his car.

"'_Can you tell us what this means for your engagement to Ms. McCarty_?'"

At this question Edward took off his sunglasses and looked directly into the camera. "I love Isabella McCarty and we _will_ work through this." He slammed his car door and sped off.

"Were you able to get in touch with your public relations lady? What did she say?" I asked, closing the Internet browser.

"She said that the statement was sent, but her sources say that the editors scrapped it at the last minute in favor of the pictures. Apparently they went for the bigger story." Bella explained.

"Can she find out where the pictures came from?" Char asked.

I got up to pace, my mind racing from thoughts of Edward's words replaying through my head and the fact that whoever took the pictures, if it wasn't Edward, may be Bella's stalker. Emmett was of the opinion that the pictures were taken by random tabloid paparazzi on the look out for his money shot. I however, felt that whoever took the pictures were purposely tracking our movements.

In replaying the scene in my head I realized that I had not been as careless as I had initially thought. No one was out and about on that section of the block when Bella and I began our little soirée` against the side of my car. Upon closer inspection of the pictures, I could tell that the angles were off. If it were some random reporter following us then the shot would have come straight on, at the height of an average sized man. But that was not the case. The pictures were shot from a height much taller than even the tallest man. It was almost like they had come from one of the upper floors in one of the buildings surrounding the theater.

I hit the intercom button. "Peter, where are you?"

"Pool house."

"Call Ben Cheney. Get him here now."

**BPOV**

"What time did Ana Marie say she was coming?" I asked Rose.

Edward's sister, the one we actually liked, was coming over to discuss her own wedding plans. A few weeks after my last showdown with her brother, I had called her to cancel my involvement in her wedding. She was very understanding about the whole thing but insisted that Rose and I remain her style consultants as she called it. The Masen family was over populated by females, all of them from very traditional Sicilian and Italian villages, where, with the exception of _Skankya_, didn't know Vera Wang from Vera Bradley. Needless to say she really needed our help if she didn't want to look like a paisley factory exploded all over her wedding dress.

Jasper was not happy about the fact that a Masen was coming to the house, but in the times that he had mingled with Ana Marie and her fiancé, he actually liked them. Emmett voiced his opinion that he could care less if she came or not so long as she didn't bring her brother with her (_of course!)_ and we stayed out of his way so that he could sleep. Jet lag was kicking his ass.

Rose looked at her watch and then closed the curtains with a disgusted look on her face. "She should have been here by now. But she may be a little late because of those asshats out there though."

"I still can't believe they're camped out there," Char said.

I nodded. "I'm just glad we've got the fence to keep them down at the road this time."

"Yeah, last time they would sneak up close to the house and try to take pictures through the windows," Rose said.

I took several deep breaths, remembering exactly why there had been a last time. It was after my attack and kidnapping. Char draped her arm around my shoulders and squeezed.

"Isn't it time to order someone to disinfect the door knobs," Char joked, bringing us all back to the present.

"Bella?"

I turned to see Angela standing in the doorway. " Yes, Angela?"

"I just wanted to you know that I'm gonna be leaving in a few minutes, Riley's coming to pick me up. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No, thank you Angela, I think we're fine. But why don't you take the next couple of days off, just until those yahoos down by the road start to leave."

"Oh no, I can't do that Bella. I kinda need the money," she mumbled softly.

Next to me, Angela was the shyest person I knew. I didn't want to put her on the spot so I pulled her out into the foyer to talk to her.

"Angela, what's going on?"

She took a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes. "I think Riley's fallen in with a group of bad guys. He's staying out late now, he's wearing all of these different weird clothes, he goes away for days at a time and he won't tell me where. And then I found out that he spent all of his yearly allowance _three months_ ago!"

Angela's mother had worked for my parents for years before I was born. She was like a second mother to Emmett and I and as such, our father had provided a substantial trust fund for Angela and her twin brother Riley when they were born. After their mother died, Emmett became guardian of their trust until they turned twenty-five. There was no real reason for Angela to work for us other than the fact that we were the only family she had, and it gave her extra spending money while she perused her degree in Education.

"Angela that's quite a bit of money."

She nodded. "He won't talk to me and he just mopes around the house when he's not with his friends. His attitude is so…cold."

"Maybe I can get Emmett to talk to him for you. Maybe take him on one of those guy outings that they use to do. You know, a baseball game or something. I haven't seen him in so long that I probably wouldn't recognize him. You'll have to bring him over for dinner one day too."

She wiped her tears away and hugged me. "That would be great Bella. Thank you so much."

"And don't worry about the money; just think of it as a paid vacation."

"Oh no, you don't-"

"Hey Angela," Char interrupted, "we just let Riley in through the gate."

"It's not a problem Ang." I told her before she could protest. "I'll call you in a couple of days."

Just as I was opening the front door, expecting to see Riley's car waiting in the driveway, Ben Cheney popped up on the doorstep. He looked like a little lost puppy, eyes going big and hair flopping in his eyes over his coke-bottle thick glasses. Angela stood dumbfounded and blushing for a second before the sound of Riley honking the car horn brought her out of her daze. Ben mumbled something to her as they passed each other, him coming in and her going out. I waved as they made the semi-circle of the driveway and headed out.

"Hey, I just buzzed Ana Marie through." Emmett said, coming down the stairs.

"I thought you were asleep."

He tilted his chin at Jasper as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Strategy meeting in the pool house," he said yawning. "I'll be there in a second Jasper, lemme get somethin' to eat first."

"Hey babe, see if you can weasel some info outta Ana Marie. Maybe she knows something about the pictures."

"I highly doubt it J, she tries to stay out of Edward's world as much as possible."

He nodded. "Just feel her out, see if she lets something slip." He kissed me, sliding his hands into the back pockets of my jeans and pulling me close. I wound my arms around his neck, greedily kissing him back.

"Get a room!" Rose shouted, walking around us to open the door. "Hey girl!"

Emmett's loud, disgusting cough/hack had Jasper stepping back away from me sooner than either of us wanted. Out of respect for Emmett, and just until he got use to the idea of us being together, Jasper and I agreed to keep the public displays of affection at a minimum.

"I'll make sure Peter doesn't talk all night," he whispered. "Love ya babe."

"Love you too."

He slapped my ass and took off after Ben. Rose practically fell through the front door, arms laden with bridal books and samples.

"Hey, Ana Marie has a ton of this stuff left to haul in. Help us."

I slipped on my garden clogs and left my hoodie sitting on the foyer bench. It was cold out, but I wasn't going to be out there for long.

"Hey Em, I'm going out to help Ana Marie." I said to him as he passed with a heaping plate of Angela's fried chicken, a drumstick stuck in his mouth.

"'K," he mumbled around a mouthful of meat.

Ana Marie was standing at the back of her Hummer pulling out her various wedding materials. She looked at me with nervous tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry hun," I said, hugging her. "We'll get you straightened out with all of this stuff and your wedding will be fabulous!"

"I love you Bella, please remember that." She said softly, tears escaping her beautiful green eyes. "No matter what happens between you and Edward, know that I love you."

"You know I love you too Ana Marie. Now go on in the house, I'll get the rest of this stuff."

I was digging around in the sacks trying to condense my load when I felt a hand over my mouth and my feet leave the ground as I was picked up from behind.

"We need to talk Isabella." Edward said, in my ear right before he tossed me into the back of the Hummer and sped away.

* * *

**A/N: For all of you who reviewed, thanks a million!**

** That being said, I hate to be a review h00r, but reviews really do make me write faster and better. Yes, I write because I love it, but I also love getting the emails from you guys saying how much you loved/hated a particular part in the story. The only way I can tell if you guys are reading is really by what you tell me, and you guys aren't telling me much. **

**So, should I keep going with the story or should I find a new hobby? Maybe I'll take up knitting...**


	16. Chapter 16

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 16**

**Thanks to the best betas on the face of the planet: Cullen818 and JamesRamsey!**

**Also, a special thanks to reader Kelleygirl who gave me the idea for Edwards twisted lies concerning Jasper.**

**SM owns it, while sadly all I have is pocket lent and gum wrappers.**

**

* * *

****BPOV**

It all happened so fast that I didn't even have a chance to fight. One minute I was sorting through Ana Marie's wedding books and sample catalogs, and the next I was picking myself up off the floorboard of the speeding Hummer.

My first thoughts were that I had to get out of this car. I didn't have a clue what Edward was planning to do with me and I wasn't going to stick around to find out. I lunged for the door, grabbed the handle and pushed it open.

"BELLA!"

"Jasper!" I screamed as I saw him fly over the side gate and take off running perpendicular towards the car. "Jasper!" I screamed again as Edward yanked me backwards.

"Oh no you don't!" Edward yelled at me.

"BELLA!"

"Lemme go! Jasper!" I reached out to him. "I love you Jasper!"

He was running as fast as he could toward us, hand outstretched as if to yank me out of the car. I kicked and punched out at Edward to no avail.

"I LOVE-"

We bounced over a small bump in the driveway causing the door to swing shut, cutting off Jasper's words and killing my chance at escape. Then I saw the gates approaching and guessed that we would never get through them. Surly someone inside of the house had to have seen or heard something and activated the steel spiked tire traps that would render us immobile.

But that didn't happen; the back end of Riley's car was near enough to the sensors on the gates that it had not triggered for them to close. He must have seen our speeding SUV, because he stomped on the gas and swerved to the left to get out of our way, leaving us a clear path of escape.

"Well done Demetri!" Edward praised his driver, leaning forward to pat him on the shoulder.

I turned, and out of the back window saw Jasper's retreating form standing in the middle of the driveway. It damn near killed me to see him looking so defeated.

"Edward, take me back home right now!" I yelled at him.

He chuckled. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride love."

"Why the hell are you doing this?"

He touched my face. "Isn't it obvious, they would have never let me near you to talk to you?"

I sat back and slapped his hands away. "There's a reason for that." I held up my broken wrist.

He laughed wickedly. "Yes, that is unfortunate, and I do apologize. However, if you would have just cooperated with me and did what I asked you to do then, it would not have happened in the first place."

"Are you insane?" I asked in disbelief. Had he had just admitted to breaking my wrist for not obeying him?

"I'm only insanely in love with you darling."

Something snapped in me and I went for his eyes with my fingernails. Being without the use of both hands really put me at a disadvantage because he had me restrained and pinned under him in no time.

"I'm not going to hurt you Isabella, but I will if you do that again," he warned.

I pushed him off of me and sat back against the car door, trying to catch my breath. Of course I didn't have my inhaler with me because I was so use to Jasper carrying it around with him. I focused on brining my anxiety level back down to normal, but then an idea hit me and I started wheezing again. I made sure to play it up, clutching my chest and coughing for added effect. I figured that if I had an asthma attack, at the very least Edward would have to take me to the hospital; I could make my escape from there.

"Cut the bullshit Isabella. I know you're faking."

How the hell did he know that? I had never in my life faked and asthma attack, but I was a pretty damn good actress. We stared at each other for a moment before I gave up and resumed my normal breathing.

I hated to ask, but I needed to know. "What are you going to do with me?"

"I just want to talk to you."

"We have nothing left to talk about."

"We have everything to talk about Isabella."

"Why should I believe that you won't hurt me?"

He shrugged. "Believe what you want, I only want to show you how much you mean to me."

"Then take me home!"

"You'll be home soon enough."

I felt the SUV slowing down and for the first time took notice of where we were. Demetri had pulled over onto the side of the road about five miles from my house. He parked behind a black Mercedes and got out of the car.

Another man, one that I had never seen before, got out of the black car and met Demetri half way. The unknown man lifted the trunk of the car and they both began digging around in it.

"What's happening?" I asked Edward, praying that he would give me some sort of clue as to what was going to happen to me. He said nothing, just continued typing on his iPhone.

I began taking stock of my surroundings, looking for a weapon of some sort, but I knew that it was crazy of me to continue to fight back or even attempt to escape. I was out numbered and out muscled; they would have me bound and gagged within seconds if I were to try anything.

And that was one thing that I couldn't handle, being tied up and possibly being put in the trunk of the car in front of us. So, for the present, I resolved to do whatever Edward asked of me and bide my time until I could find another means of escape.

My feet were cold and my nose had started to run. The garden clogs had fallen off when Edward grabbed me, leaving me in my bare feet. Because I had not slipped on my hoodie before going outside, I was shivering, only wearing a thin cami under another one of Jasper's shirts.

Tears welled up in my eyes when I thought about Jasper. I closed my eyes and thanked God that the last time I saw him I told him that I loved him. Who knew what Edward was planning and I didn't want to leave this earth without being assured that Jasper knew exactly how I felt about him. I could still feel his arms around me and the way his lips felt against my own as he kissed me.

"Please Edward, just take me home." I begged him, trying not to cry.

He looked up from typing and smiled at me. It was one of those smiles like the psycho killer in the movies gives his victim right before they slice their heads off. A shudder ran down my back and I turned away from him before he saw how scared I really was.

Demetri opened my side door and motioned for me to get out. When I didn't move, he roughly yanked on my arm, pulling me out of the vehicle. I let out a yelp and started to kick him but remembered at the last minute that I didn't have any shoes on. The last thing I needed was a broken toe.

"Dammit Demetri! Get your fuckin' hands off of her!" Edward said, pushing the larger man away from me. "I will deal with you later." He threatened him. "Come love; let's get in the other car."

I took a step and winced as the jagged rocks stuck in the bottom of my feet.

"Isabella, where are your shoes?" Edward asked.

I hated the way he said my name, like he was talking to a child. "I-In m-my d-d-driveway." I stuttered, teeth chattering from the cold, but more from the fear.

Edward took off the black hoodie he had on and draped it around my shoulders. I wanted so badly to tell him to take it and shove it, but it was near 35 degrees and I was _cold_. He then tried to pick me up, and I did shove him away that time. I didn't want him touching me and erasing the feel of Jasper's hands on my body.

"I-I'm f-fine. I-I c-can make it." I walked as quickly as I could to the car, ignoring the pain in my feet.

The heater was on full blast inside the new car and I rubbed the soles of my feet against the carpet trying to work up friction for heat. All too soon, the unknown driver got in the car and without a word from Edward, put the car in gear and we took off.

When we passed the Masen Estate I began to worry. My initial thoughts were that Edward would just take me to his house. But then when I we passed the front gates; my brain was racing to try to figure out where he was taking me.

I knew of a few homes that the Masen family owned, the townhouse in the City being one of them. I quickly ruled out that option because taking me there would be one of the first places Jasper and Emmett would look. And I was sure that Edward knew that I most certainly would create enough fuss that the whole neighborhood would know that something was amiss.

The driver turned off of Shore Road onto West Way and I knew that we were headed for the Masen family cabin. Edward was either going to talk to me like he said, or throw me into Greenwich Cove Bay. At least my death would be fast; the temperature of the water this time of year would kill me in minutes.

"Why bring me _here_ Edward?" I asked, scared of the answer.

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

With a hand on my elbow he guided me from the car up the cobblestone walk way to the front entrance of the house. To say that a three thousand square foot house was a cabin was a giant misnomer. All of the surrounding properties were the real, pee in the woods, type of log cabins. This house was freaking huge given the fact that the Masen family only used it once or twice a year.

Edward didn't bother unlocking the door, it was already open and a roaring fire was going in the fireplace. I immediately tossed off the hoodie, not liking the way Edward's scent contrasted with Jasper's. Not knowing when or even if I would ever see him again, I wanted to preserve everything about him, and I could still smell him in my shirt.

"You really don't know?" He asked, sounding hurt.

I shook my head 'no', concentrating on trying not to set my self on fire with how close I was standing to the leaping flames.

"Five years ago at the 4th of July annual Masen family picnic was the first time we met. You were wearing a yellow sundress with the biggest straw hat on that I had ever seen, and you were standing down by the dock. You had on a pair of those bug-eyed sunglasses that made your face look really small and you had a purse shaped like a ladybug.

"I watched you all day, working on trying to get my nerves together to ask you out on a date." He moved toward me, taking my hands into his. "I knew that you would be leaving with Emmett right after the fireworks show, so I prepared my speech and even practiced it on my ten year old cousin Vinny. And then when I came over to you-"

"You said, 'hi my name is Ed-'and you barfed all over my dress." I finished for him.

He laughed and dropped his head. "Damn rancid potato salad that my aunt Carmen made."

"Edward, why are we really here?" I pulled my hands out of his. "That was so long ago and we aren't the same people anymore."

"No, but we can be Bella. I love you." He captured my face between his hands and kissed me. "You have no idea how much I love you."

I struggled in his embrace, finally succeeding in pushing him away. "Edward, take me home! This is crazy; you bring me way out here to try to convince me of something that we both know is not going to work. How many times do I have to say it? I do not feel the same way about you anymore."

"But you can," he insisted.

"No Edward, I can't and I won't." Having sufficiently thawed my freezing fingers and toes, I moved and sat down on the sofa. I was exhausted and the warmth of the room only made me want to sleep. But as soon as Edward approached me, that feeling went out the door.

Edward sat down on the coffee table in front of me. "Let me show you. Give me another chance."

"Edward, I've moved on, it's time you have too. Now take me home!"

He got up and paced the floor, stopping by a large writing desk. "Moved on? You say that you've moved on, but do you really know what you've moved on to?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "What are you talking about Edward?"

He snatched a vanilla file folder off of the desk and slapped it down on the coffee table in front of me. "You have no idea who he is." When I didn't respond, Edward opened the folder and spread out its contents. "Look at it. LOOK. AT. IT!" He demanded, jabbing the pictures with a finger.

The pictures were of Jasper and a petite woman with chocolate brown hair much like my own, walking on a beach. A few of the pictures were close range shots of Jasper and the woman, shots of them hugging, kissing and just being together in normal couple activities.

I could tell that the pictures were several years old; Jasper had longer hair that appeared to have been dyed a fire orange-reddish color. The woman was wearing a dated floral print dress and several of the cars in the background were older models as well.

"So what? It's Jasper with some woman a long time ago."

"Not just some woman Bella, she's a woman that he had been hired to protect. A woman that he fell in love with and the same woman who he was responsible for getting _killed_."

**JPOV**

Ideas were running through my head like wild fire. I needed to have a brainstorming session with my brother and Ben. Peter could always take my ramblings and turn them into hard-core plans. And I relied on Ben's technological abilities and his gift of ferreting out information.

I buzzed Ben in through the gate and ran downstairs to get him. Bella was in the foyer seeing Angela off when Ben showed up on the doorstep. I felt a nervous tingle down my spine when I saw her standing there with the door open welcoming him in. But then I thought about the high tech security fencing system that had just been installed and was somewhat eased by that. We were locked down tighter than Fort Knox.

She was wearing another one of my shirts again with a tiny tank top underneath and her hair piled up on top of her head in a messy bun. My heart felt like it was damn near going to beat out of my chest when I slipped my arms around her waist and she turned around and smile at me. She was so fuckin' beautiful, and she was _mine_.

We talked for a minute about Ana Marie. She was a Masen that I actually didn't mind being in the same room with. Her personality was nothing like her brother's, or her sister's for that matter. I highly doubted that she knew anything about Edward's activities, but it was worth a shot to see if Bella could get anything out of her.

I kissed my woman and grabbed her ass, leaving her with an indication of things to come later that night. We had gone too long without a little physical lovin'; I didn't count car sex as being sufficient lovin'. I told her that I loved her and she whispered it back. I would never get tired of hearing those words and wondering what I did to deserve such a gift.

Ben had already set up his laptop when I got to the pool house and Peter was busy piling his research up on the table. I scratched my head wondering how in the world I was going to keep Peter from talking all night long. The man had a serious case of long-windedness.

I grabbed a notebook and jotted down a few ideas before I forgot them. Having Bella on the brain tended to make me forgetful.

I was standing next to one of the video monitors when I saw Rose practically fall in through the front door with an arm load of that Bridal junk she and Bella had been yammering on and on about for the last couple of hours. Until I had met Bella I had all but sworn off getting married -thanks to Alice- but listening to them talk about dresses and color swatches and menu options, I can't say that I wasn't intrigued.

Imaging Bella walking down an aisle headed toward me in some virginal white dress made me slightly hard. Thinking about what awaited me _under_ that same dress had JW twitching with excitement. I shook my head to clear it and looked back at the monitor.

Emmett was coming out of the kitchen with a plate loaded with chicken. Bella said something to him, he nodded and she disappeared out the front door. Her tiny body popped up again on the next monitor where I saw her hug Ana Marie and then start rooting through the back of the Hummer. And then my world fell apart.

Edward jumped out of the side of the vehicle and snatched her, clamping a hand down over her mouth and damn near tossing her into the SUV. Another man ran around to the back and slammed the rear hatch door and then jumped back into the vehicle and they took off.

I must have made some sort of strangled noise because Peter and Ben were at my side in an instant. It took me about a second to really recognize what was going on, and that second on top of what had already transpired was a fuckin' eternity too long.

"He's got her." I said barely above a whisper, pointing at the monitor.

"What? Who? Who's got her?" Peter demanded.

"EDWARD!"

I took off running and collided with Emmett as he was coming in through the door. We both went sliding across the patio, the side of my face scraping along the brick. That shit hurt like a motherfucker, but nothing was worse than the pain that was caused by my heart being ripped out of my chest when I saw Edward snatch my woman.

"What the fuck Jasper?" Emmett yelled.

I up and running again, not sure where I was going, just knew that I needed to be moving. I jumped over the side gate, using Bella's gardening bench as a means to catapult my body over the eight-foot high fence. I landed and was moving again before I even had a chance to recover from the impact.

And then I saw the side door of the Hummer fly open and Bella's head pop out. She was trying to jump from a moving vehicle! I was torn between telling her to jump and to stay the fuck where she was. I wasn't too confident in my ability to catch her if she did jump and I could only shudder at the possibility that she may not clear the thirty inch wheels.

But then she screamed my name and it made me run harder and faster than I thought my body was capable of. I reached out for her, as if I were going to pluck her from the clutches of evil itself. I saw her trying to beat Edward off of her, but he was too strong and she could only use one arm.

The vehicle went over a bump and the door slammed, shutting off any possible means for her escape. In the distance I could see the fading backlights of the Hummer as it cleared the gates and I knew that chasing it by foot was futile. I turned and head back to the front of the house, dead set on one fuckin' person: Ana Marie.

I've never hit a woman before, but when I saw Bella's gardening clogs in the driveway, I began calculating on where I could hide Ana Marie's body. A fast death would be too good for her if Bella didn't come home alive.

She was sitting on the bench in the foyer when I came through the front door. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and when I yanked her up and pinned her to the wall, those tears were replaced by genuine fear.

"Where is he taking her?" I demanded.

She shook her head, tears running down her cheeks and snot down over her lip. I shook her by both arms and pushed her back into the wall a little harder than I initially intended. I was holding onto my temper the best I could, trying my best to not snap her neck. A dead woman couldn't tell me anything.

Her head thudded against the wall and I found it really difficult to care.

"Jazz, what the hell are you doing?" Rose asked, rushing to protect her friend.

"Tell me Ana Marie! Where is he taking her?"

"I, I d-don't k-know." She said stammered through her tears.

"What the hell is going on?" Rose demanded, pulling on my arms.

I spared one glance at Rose before turning back to Ana Marie. "Tell her what you've done! Tell her that you set your friend up to be taken by Edward. TELL HER!"

Rose gasped, shocked. "What? What the hell are you talking about Jasper?"

"Please don't kill me," she begged. "I didn't want to do it. Please don't kill me."

"Then you tell me where she is!" I said, shaking her.

"Jasper!" Emmett yelled, pulling me away from Ana Marie. She collapsed into a crying, wailing puddle at our feet. "Calm the fuck down." He had his hands locked on my shoulders as he pushed me away. "We'll find her. Just calm down."

"Calm down? How the fuck can I calm down? You let her out the door!" I shouted at him. "I saw you watch her fuckin' walk out the door and you didn't even think about stopping her!" I grabbed him by his collar, turned and slammed him back against the wall. "How can you be so fuckin' careless?"

"Let him go Jazz!" Peter was pulling on my arms now. "This is not helping us get her back!"

Emmett didn't even try to come at me, but dropped his head with his own guilt. "You're right, I didn't even think about it. I thought she was safe with the new fence..."

I released him and stepped back, running my hands through my hair and yanking on it. "Em, I c-can't live without her, I can't…." I didn't stop the tears. I didn't think I could.

"I know…I know," he said, tears in his own eyes. "We'll find her."

I slid down the opposite wall, burying my head in my hands. I knew that we were wasting time, I knew that I should have jumped on or in the next fastest vehicle I could and tried to follow them; but I couldn't just yet. I needed a minute to get my brains back in order. Running off half cocked on no leads and no real information would waste valuable time.

"Where is she bitch?"

I looked up from my little mind huddle to see Char holding Ana Marie by the collar and shaking her. This was a complete surprise to see coming from such a quite and reserved person such as Char. Peter pulled Char off of her and she clung to him, face buried in his chest crying.

The solider in me snapped back into working order and I got up off the floor. I picked Ana Marie up as well and sat her back on the foyer bench.

"Listen, I want answers now. Start at the beginning and quit your fuckin' sniveling."

She looked at me with those green eyes that were so much like her brother's that I had to take another step back to keep from really hurting her. Emmett sensed this and slapped a hand on my back steadying and slightly restraining me.

My phone chirped indicating a message and something told me that I needed to check it. It was from Edward.

**I have taken back what is rightfully mine. Her body will belong to me. - - EAM**

"Talk." I commanded Ana Marie.

**BPOV**

"That's ridiculous Edward. Jasper has a perfect record concerning his clients."

"Are you so sure about that Bella?" He asked, shoving more papers at me. "Police report. Newspaper articles. Read it."

I tossed them down. "I don't need to read it Edward. I _know_ Jasper and whatever happened with this woman was not related to him. It was not his fault!"

He took the papers and pictures, holding them up in front of me. "Her name was Bree Tanner. Your _Jasper_ was hired by her father to protect her from a few of his unsavory business partners. Bree was required to testify against these guys and afterwards she and your _guard dog_ went deep into hiding. No one saw them for months until one day, _bam_! They both pop up out of nowhere."

He held up the picture of them kissing on the beach. "On a beach in California." He slapped the picture down in front of me. "Holding hands and kissing. Appears to everyone who sees them that they are _in love_." He slapped the police report down. "Only Bree was _engaged_ to someone else." He slapped down another picture, this time of a man. "To a Marcus DiCarlo. DiCarlo, in a fit of rage at seeing them together, joined forces with the men she testified against, and together went on a shooting spree. Bree and DiCarlo were both killed and your Jasper was shot and spent the next few months between the hospital and rehab centers learning to walk again."

The room was silent except for the cracking of the logs in the fireplace. Rage built up in me. I trusted Jasper completely, and I knew that whatever the _real _story was, that Edward was twisting it to fit his own needs.

"You're lying." I jumped up, fist balled and ready to fight. "This is a low blow even for you Edward."

"Dammit Bella, what is it going to take to get you to see what a fuckin' loser this guy is? He will say whatever it takes to get in your pants and then you'll get killed because of his neglect."

"You have no idea what you're talking about! This is why you bring me out here? To tell me a bunch of bullshit lies?"

"I brought you out here to tell you the truth!"

"You want the truth? Jasper loves me and I love him. I trust him with my life. I trust him with my heart!"

He grabbed me and pulled me close. "That leech doesn't know what love is. I'm trying to protect you, from not only this maniac trying to kill you, but from Whitlock too!"

"How do I know it's not you that's trying to kill me? You could be the one sending the letters and making the phone calls." I accused.

"Why the hell would I do some stupid shit like that? I don't want you dead; _I_ want to marry you! _I_ can do so much more for you than he can. We can have a family. _I _want to be your first and only lover. _I_ want to be the one to give you a house full of green-eyed babies. Let _me_ be the one to love and protect you Bella."

"Listen to what you just said. It's all about what _you_ want. Well what about what I want?" I pushed him away. "You could never love me the way he does. Jasper is concerned about what's best for me, for us as a couple. He makes me a better woman. He's the man you dream about becoming! And as for being my first and only lover, Jasper already has that privilege."

"I don't believe you; I know that you wouldn't go that far with him!"

"You know that it's true and you're jealous, because he's everything you can't be!" I screamed at him. I knew I was pushing his limits, but I couldn't stop.

He took the pictures and papers and flung them into the open flames of the fireplace. "Shut up!"

"He completes me, body and mind. I love him in a way that I could never love you. My body responds to him in a way that you could never imagine." I kept on taunting him, laughing at him. "It only takes one _look_ from him and he has me wet. One touch and he has me cumming. You couldn't even come close to that in the four years we were together!"

"I said shut the fuck up!"

He backhand slapped me hard across the face. I fell back against the sofa, tasting blood in my mouth. And then Edward was on top of me, ripping my clothes.

**JPOV**

I took the stairs two at a time. Listening to Ana Marie's cries and trying to decipher her story through her snivels had my head pounding.

"_Please, I had no choice," she cried. "Edward said that he would kill Angelo if I didn't do what he said."_

"_Start at the beginning Ana Marie," Emmett said, taking charge of the situation._

_Ana Marie took a couple of deep breaths; seemingly trying to calm her nerves and wiped her nose on her sleeve. _

"_Angelo's cousin Lee works for Edward. Because he's so new to the game of the 'family business', he wanted to impress my brother and made some pretty outlandish claims that he could broker a deal with high returns. Something happened and the deal went sour. Edward demanded full repayment for the money he lost, but Lee was not able to come up with it, so Angelo offered to repay the money but only if he could get his cousin out of the 'business'. _

"_Apparently Angelo's offer somehow insulted Edward, and because my brother is a freddo bastardo cuore _(cold hearted bastard),_ he said that he would have them both 'taken care of' if I didn't agree to help him get Bella." _

_She was crying and sniveling again and my patience was wearing thin._

"_What are his plans for Bella?" Peter asked._

_She blew her nose on a wad of tissue that Ben pressed into her hands. "He said that he only wanted to talk to her and he knew that you two would never let him near her to do that."_

"_There has to be more to it than just talking." I pointed out, anger growing by the second._

_She shook her head. "In his own sick, twisted way he really loves her. He's been frantic with worry ever since the night of the wine party."_

"_What's he worryin' about?" Rose asked._

"_You saw the newspapers. He was worried that you would take his place in her heart." She said to me. "And you have."_

"_Where is he taking her?" Emmett asked._

"_He wouldn't tell me. He kept repeating to me that all he wanted was to talk to her," she repeated._

_I pulled up the text message that he had sent to me and showed it to her. _

"_He wouldn't do what you're thinking. He cares too much about her." She protested._

"_Why do you keep defending him? He's threatened to kill your fiancé over practically nothing." I reminded her. _

"_I'm not defending him, I'm only telling you about what I've seen of him in the last few weeks. He loves Bella and it's not his intention to hurt her. He just wants to talk."_

"_Yeah, but Bella's stubborn and his intentions may change based on that." I said._

I really didn't give a flyin' fuck what her fiancé Angelo had done to warrant Edward's wrath. The fact that Edward would threaten widowhood upon his sister if she didn't comply with his plan was sick. It still didn't excuse her, but it did lessen my desire to kill her. Edward knew that his sister would be safe in our house and that we would feel sorry for her. That was the only reason that he left her here.

Ana Marie really didn't know anything that would be helpful in finding Bella. All that she could say was that Edward had promised her that he wouldn't hurt her friend and that he only wanted to talk to her. But thinking about the text he had sent me had me damn near frantic to try to find her. If one hair on her head was out of place when I found them then I would rip his fuckin' throat out.

"Where are you going?" Rose asked, standing in the doorway of my old bedroom.

I pulled on my black motorcycle boots. "To find her."

"But you don't have a clue where she is."

I tugged the large army green canvas duffel out of the closet and tossed it on top of the bed. I unlocked and unzipped it, laying out the arsenal of weapons that were inside.

"It doesn't matter. I'll find her."

"How? You don't know what Edward's up to. You have no idea how many men he has guarding her."

"Jasper, Rose is right. We have no idea where Edward is. He could be setting a trap." Emmett said, coming into the room.

"I can't stay here waiting." I checked the magazine clips of the two forty-five caliber handguns before slipping them both into my shoulder harness and then yet another in the hip holster. Next I checked the little twenty-two I had strapped to one leg and then the switchblade knife I had tucked into my back pocket.

"What's your plan?"

"I know that he didn't take her to his townhouse; that would be one of the first places we'd check since there are too many people that would be in the way at his estate. So he's got to have her in one of the vacation rental houses that the Masen's own around here. I'm gonna check out the cottages along the bay first."

"I'll ride down by the Masen warehouses and vineyards then." Emmett said.

"I'll go with you." Peter said.

I tossed both Ben and then Emmett one of the forty-five's from the duffel. "Ben, you stay here with the girls and don't let that bitch out of your sight. Where is she now?"

"Char's standing over her like a prison guard." Peter said.

"Good." I pulled on the black motorcycle jacket and picked up the helmet, checking the bluetooth connection. "We'll conference in exactly one hour from now. Lock the gate down and let no one inside." I told Ben. "Not even us. We'll have to use our codes and face recognition scans on the front panel."

Rose threw herself at me, hugging me. "Please find her Jazz."

I patted her back briefly before setting her aside. "She'll be home tonight, I promise."

I made my way down Sound Beach Avenue and on to Shore Road. There were a dozen or so little peninsula's that jutted out into the Bay, each having its own tiny neighborhood of sorts. It was logical that Masen would take Bella to one of these; I knew that his family owned several of the cabins and rented them out over the summer months, but being that it was almost winter the place was fairly deserted. The cabins were far enough away from the main road yet close enough to his estate to be easily accessible.

Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to locate them.

I couldn't get that text out of my mind. Thoughts of Edward with his hands all over Bella's body had me pushing the bike even faster to find her. Just as I was turning onto East Point Lane my phone rung. I thought for a minute about not answering the _Unknown_ call that flashed on my phone screen, but then thoughts of Bella escaping and finding a phone to call me had me pulling off to the side of the road to answer it.

"Hello?"

But the voice on the other end was not the sweet sound of my Bella.

"Jasper!" Ben practically screamed in my ear. "I hacked into the Connecticut property tax database and found several properties listed under E. A. Masen. The largest is listed at 3411 West Way. Ana Marie says that it's the family log cabin and it's possible that he's got her there."

"Ben, tell her that if she's agreeing because this is a trap-"

"Naw man, she's like really flippin' out with worrying. I think it's legit."

"I'm right around the block from West Way. Call Em and Peter, I think they're headed north. I'm gonna go check it out. I'll call you back in fifteen."

"Jasper maybe you should wait-"

"No. She may be hurt and Em and Peter are too far away for me to wait. Fifteen minutes Ben."

I clicked the phone off and started the bike again. West Way was less than a mile from my current location. At the top of the street I killed the engine and parked it; with the loud noise I didn't want to give Edward a heads up that his ass whipping was on the way.

It wasn't hard to locate the address on the dark street. A lone black Mercedes was in the driveway, indicating to me that they could not have been more than four people in the house. It didn't matter to me how many were in there, I was only concerned about one of them.

The Masen cabin was not your regular type cabin; it was the biggest house on the street. I pulled out one of my forty-five's and flicked off the safety. It was not my desire to kill anyone, especially in front of Bella, but at the same time I wasn't there to play around either.

I crept around the back of the house, careful to step lightly and to stay in the shadows. I didn't hear anything nor see anyone, and for a moment doubted the validity of Ben's information. And then a couple of things happened all at once.

I heard Edward yelling, Bella screaming and then I felt the cold steel barrel of a gun pressed into the side of my head.

"Where do ya think yer goin'?"

* * *

**A/N: I want to say thank you to all of you. Your response for last chapter was overwhelming! I truly love writing and while I still may take up knitting, (LOL) I'm sticking with this story for the long haul. I ask that you stick in there with me and that you continue letting me know your thoughts and feelings. I read each and every review and I always try my best to respond to them all. There really is no better payment than to know that you all like what my ordinary mind and my extraordinary fingers type out.**

**That being said, who of you wants Edward to get a reall ass kicking? I know some of you want to see him dead, but is that the type of person Jasper is? Let me know your thoughts. I have a few ideas of how to handle Eddie boy, but I'm not sure which direction to go in. Let's just say that I will need to keep him around until the end though!**


	17. Chapter 17

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 17**

**Thanks to the wonderful Cullen818 and JamesRamsey who both take time out of their busy schedules to beta this for me!**

****

SM owns it!

* * *

**JPOV**

The Masen cabin was not your regular type cabin; it was the biggest house on the street. I pulled out one of my forty-five's and flicked off the safety. I didn't want to kill anyone, especially in front of Bella, but at the same time I wasn't there to play around either.

I crept around the back of the house, careful to step lightly and to stay in the shadows. I didn't hear anything nor see anyone and for a moment doubted the validity of Ben's information. And then a couple of things happened all at once.

I heard Edward yelling, Bella screaming and then I felt the cold steel nuzzle of a gun pressed into the side of my head.

The motion sensor lights flashed on.

"Where do ya think yer goin'?"

Even with my back turned, I could smell the alcohol on his breath and skin, almost like he had been bathing in bourbon. I turned slowly, hands up in surrender with my gun now only hooked on my thumb, to look at him. He wasn't one of Edward's regular trained _Soldatos, _and the way he was swaying back and forth made me wonder what was going on with Edward for him to be so carless with his protection. If this was who he was enlisting now, there was no telling what else he had been up to.

This was a delicate situation and that I had to act fast; he was either going to shoot me accidentally, or fire a random shot and potentially hit Bella.

My heart clenched in my chest when I heard Bella scream again; this time louder and with it the sound of glass breaking and furniture being thrown. The solider in me snapped, and knowing that I needed to hurry, head butted the guy. By the way he squealed and the amount of blood that splattered all over the both of us, I no doubt broke his nose. His finger slipped and he fired off a round, nearly hitting me in the thigh. I punched him, and did a round house kick, sending him flying backwards down the porch steps. He hit his head against the cobblestones with a sickening thump and lay motionless. I knew that he wasn't dead; I could still see the rise and fall of his chest.

The front door was unlocked and I charged through to find Edward on top of Bella, struggling to hold her down and working on the buttons of her jeans. Bella, despite having really only one arm to fight with, was holding her own against him, punching and kicking out at him. I could see her shirt was torn, hanging halfway off, and her lips were bruised and bloody.

He was so caught up in trying to subdue her that he didn't even see my approach. With one hand, I grabbed him by his neck and yanked him off of Bella. He fell back onto his ass and slid across the hardwood floor into a glass curio cabinet. Broken glass rained down on him, cutting his face. I picked him up by his throat and slammed him against the wall, where I held him slightly suspended in the air; the nose of my gun pointed dead center in the middle of his throat.

"Bella baby, are you okay?" I asked, over my shoulder. I didn't dare take my eyes off of him.

She was coughing and wheezing, trying to catch her breath.

"Get the fuck off me Whitlock!" He struggled in my grasp. "You're not man enough to pull the trigger anyway."

"You wanna test that theory?" I asked as I pressed the gun further into his throat. I squeezed his larynx tighter, liking the way his eyes bugged out at the lack of oxygen. "Bella baby, you gotta answer me. Are you okay?"

"J-Jasper, I'm o-okay."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see her struggling to get up. I wanted to run to her and pull her into my arms and never let her go. I needed reassurance that she was okay just as much as I was sure she did. But first, I needed to take care of Edward.

My mind was racing trying to come up with a solution for what to do with him. Seeing him on top of Bella and knowing what he was about to do to her made me want to put a bullet in his brain. Sure I could kill him, but at what cost? I was not a ruthless killer; my goal was to spend the rest of my life by Bella's side, not separated from her through three inches of plexi-glass and talking to her through one of those old style phones. Killing Edward would put a serious damper on our long term plans.

"Baby, come get your inhaler out of my pocket."

Her breathing was better, but not by much. I didn't want her coming that close to Edward, but at the same time there was no way I was going to let him out of my hold in order to give it to her.

"Don't trust him Bella. Think about what he did to Bree!" Edward yelled, hitting at my hands around his neck.

"Put him…in the…basement." Bella said, as she was getting the inhaler out of my pocket.

"What?" I asked, both to Edward's mention of Bree and Bella's suggestion of putting him in the basement. I hadn't heard that name in a long time, and I didn't know which one stunned me more.

I was caught off guard and before she could answer, Masen kicked out at me. His foot connected with my kneecap, sending me sprawling backwards and howling in pain. My gun went one way and I went another. Masen fell on top of me and we rolled across the floor, punching, kicking one another and snarling like animals.

We rolled into the sofa table, sending the glass table top crashing to the floor in a million pieces. He went for the gun, but I grabbed him at the waist and yanked him away. "Bella, get the gun!" I yelled.

I saw her hesitate, not having any shoes on and surrounded by the glass. We rolled again and I kicked the gun in the opposite direction so that she could get it. I straddled Edward and punched him twice before he bucked me off, throwing me to the side. He was on top of me then, hands around my throat this time.

And then I caught a glimpse of Bella standing over us with her arm raised, gun in her hand.

"Edward!" she screamed.

He turned and looked up at her. I yelled at her to stop, but it was too late.

I waited for the sound of gunfire, but it never came. The only reaction was that of Masen's body slumped over me. Bella had called his name in order to get his attention and then she hit him over the head with the butt of the gun, knocking him unconscious.

"You…can't kill him. You'll…go to…jail." She said, almost nonchalantly and used the inhaler twice before speaking again. "Tie him…up…and put him…in the basement."

I lay there stunned for a moment before I pushed Masen off of me and stood up, holding on to the furniture because I was limping badly on my twisted knee. I took the gun out of her hand before it accidentally went off.

"Bella, you just clubbed him over the head with a gun and you act like you've been swattin' at flies."

"Yeah well, he hit me," she said, tears in her eyes now. "And who knows what else he was going to do to me if you hadn't got here in time. It's the least I could do without

killing him myself." She kicked him in the stomach. "Let him see how it feels to be tied up somewhere and can't get out!" She yelled down at his unconscious form.

I pulled her away as she was about to kick him again and held her for a few moments while she cried against my chest. "Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked, noticing the bruise and dried blood on her lips.

She shook her head no and very softly said, "Take me home Jasper."

I sighed and kissed her forehead. "I will, I promise. But I need to take care of this mess first." I rolled Edward's limp body over with my foot.

My phone rang, and knowing that it was probably Emmett, I let Bella answer it. I searched the downstairs portion of the house for rope and, not finding any, I settled on the cord from the landline telephone. I knew that we needed to get moving and it was all that I could come up with at the moment.

Masen had gotten a pretty good shot in on my kneecap, but I managed to get him tied up and his body hoisted over my shoulder to carry down to the basement. I begged Bella to let me take care of tying him up but she was adamant about watching. We tied him between two of the support pillars with enough leeway to reach a bowl of water that Bella placed near him. She said that since he was a dog he should drink like one and then we left him in the dark, musty basement.

Bella assured me that one of the Masen estate caretakers came once a week to check on the house and that Edward would be found within the next couple of days. I hated that I couldn't think of any other options to get rid of him.

Sure, I could tie him up and torture him for days, but I had seen enough of that during my time in the desert to know that that shit had a tendency to fuck with your mind. I didn't want nightmares and emotional drama clouding my days and my nights. My job was helping Bella through hers; that was enough to require my full time attention.

"Where did you get those?"

"From your closet. I saw that yours fell off in the driveway." I carefully knelt down on my good knee to help her put on her Converse sneakers. I had stuffed them down the front of my jacket before leaving the house. "You cut your feet."

"Jasper-" Bella threw her arms around my neck, tears running down her cheeks. "You brought me my inhaler," sniff, sniff, "and my shoes," sniff, sniff. "You really do love me."

I laughed a little. "Of course I love you." I kissed her cheeks and wiped her tears away. "C'mon baby, we gotta get out of here. That guy I punched is still outside on the ground and we don't know when he's gonna wake." I said, looking out of the window at him, still lying where he fell.

I tried to tie her torn shirt together as much as I possibly could, but there really was nothing left to hold it together. I slipped off my jacket for her to put on, ignoring her protest as we made our way down the street to where I parked the bike.

"You're gonna freeze to death." She stated, hands on her hips and staring up at me.

"Babe, can we not argue about this here?" I pulled my helmet down over her head and threw my leg over the bike. "Get on."

"But you can't give me the helmet too!"

I loved this woman, but I swear to God I was about to strangle her. "Bella if you don't get on this bike…"

She huffed with indignation before she finally gave in and got on the bike behind me.

Once home, and not willing to let her go for a second, I carried Bella into the house where Char and Rose immediately swarmed us, crying and hugging her.

It took a few minutes to get them to calm down and I had to remind them that Bella needed to get warm as soon as possible. Char agreed to fix her something to eat while I took her upstairs to get a hot bath started for her.

"You guys act like I've been gone for days." Bella joked. "It's only been a couple of hours."

"Six hours." I corrected her, not liking the way she was already shutting down her emotions by making light of the situation. "You were gone for six hours and thirty nine minutes."

My hands were literally shaking and it took me a minute of serious concentration to settle my nerves before I could unzip the jacket and take it off her shoulders. As I watched her brush her hair, the realization that I had almost been too late in getting to her started to hit me. I took a couple of deep breaths and pushed the 'what-if' thoughts away. Right now I needed to be strong for Bella. Even though she was calm now, I could feel her storm brewing.

"Bella!" Emmett shouted. "Bella! Where are you?"

"Bedroom!" She yelled back.

Emmett burst through the bedroom doors and scooped Bella up, spinning her around. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I should have never let you go out by yourself."

"I'm okay Em, promise," she said, blushing.

"Are you sure? What happened to your face?"

"It's nothing." She pulled away from him.

"But-"

"I'm okay. Just leave it alone." She snapped, turned and stomped into the bathroom.

Emmett stared at the closed bathroom door for a second before plopping down on the sofa with a heavy sigh. "I'm just worried," he said softly.

"Em, you know that pushing her doesn't work. She'll talk to me in a little while, but right now she just needs a moment."

"What makes you think you know so much about her? She's _my_ sister!"

"Calm down Em. All I'm saying is that Bella has started to open up to me. She knows that I won't judge her and she trusts me-"

"And she doesn't trust me?" He jumped up, shouting. "You're saying that I pass judgment on her and that's why she won't talk to me? Is that what you're saying?" He asked, getting in my face.

It was too late to have to deal with his shit now. I started my morning off with Emmett in my face and I was not about to end my day the same fuckin' way. There was only so much I could take and he was walking a fine line between me being calm and rational and walking away, or me handing his ass to him. For Bella's sake I didn't want to have to throat punch her brother.

I took a step back, mentally stepping back as well. I honed into my happy place and took a few deep breaths, thinking about Bella and how I was planning on staying locked with her in our bedroom for the next couple of days getting reacquainted with her nipples. I heard the shower turn on and I was literally twitching to get on the other side of that door to see if she wasokay.

"No Em, that's not what I'm saying at all," I said, calmly. "What I'm saying is that she's tired and probably just wants to go to bed right now. She'll talk to me or whoever, when she feels comfortable."

"She'll talk to _you_? _You_? Let me tell you something Whitlock. I didn't spend twenty-seven years being her _everything,_ to have you come in here after two weeks of me being gone and shut me out like this."

And there it was, the truth. Emmett was jealous. I could understand where he was coming from, but at the same time I wasn't trying to take his place. I respected the fact that he had taken such great care of Bella, but that was my privilege now. Sure, Em was concerned about me becoming distracted and not being able to protect Bella, but it was now obvious more than ever that he was afraid that she would stop looking up to him and looking to him for answers.

I didn't know how to convince him otherwise and truthfully there was nothing I could say nor do that would ease his mind anyway. The only thing that would resolve his issues was time. He needed time to see that it wasn't my intent to turn Bella against him. And he needed time to realize how much I cared for and loved her. It was too bad that he couldn't already see that, especially given what we had already been through the last seven hours.

"Look Em, just calm down alright. I'm sure Bella will talk to you tomorrow. I'm just gonna go check on her."

He stepped in front of me, blocking my exit. "I'm not through talking to you."

I held up my hands and backed away. My blood was starting to boil; I was so fuckin' tired of his bullshit. Couldn't we just take the night off from drama? "Em, let's not do this right now. I just want to check on Bella and go to bed."

"See, that's gonna be a problem for me, 'cause I don't want you in her room." He shoved me backwards toward the door.

"Emmett look, that's really up to Bella."

He shoved me back again. "My house, my rules. You sleep in the pool house or the garage. I don't give a damn, so long as it's not in her room."

"Then I guess we'll be leaving." Bella said, coming out of the bathroom, fresh from her shower.

"Bella stay out of this." Emmett warned, never taking his eyes off of me.

She stepped in between us and pushed Emmett back. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself Emmett McCarty. Jasper has just rescued me from Edward. He's done everything you've asked of him and more to protect me. Where were you when he was getting his ass kicked? Where were you when Edward was trying to rape me?" She demanded, pushing him in the chest with an open palm. "All you can do is to act like a complete ass to him when you ought to be thanking him! So if you want him out of the house that our parents left to the _both_ of us, then _we_ will be gone in twenty minutes. It's your choice."

Bella and Emmett held a silent conversation with their eyes, neither one refusing to break the death stare they held. Eventually Emmett sighed and looked away.

"Goodnight," he said, jaw tight. He turned and slammed the door behind him.

Bella flipped the lock on the door and sighed heavily, leaning her forehead against the wood for a moment. She then turned to me with a nefarious glint in her eye, toying with the belt of her robe. She ran it through her fingers and twirled the ends as she slowly walked toward me. And just like a light switch she flipped off one emotion and turned on another.

"Have I ever told you how fuckin' hawt you look when you're holding your gun?"

At that moment the gun in my pants twitched and I wasn't sure if she were talking about my dick or my forty-five. I swallowed the lump in my throat and mentally stomped on the part of my brain that told me that this was not the right time to be thinking about how hot and warm it would feel inside of Bella's pussy. I needed to be more concerned with her mental well being and helping her work through what she had just experienced.

But when Bella took my hand, slipped it inside of her robe and I felt nothing but the bare skin of her ass, the reasoning part of my brain shut completely down. Actually it had no choice, all of my blood was in one particular spot and it wasn't the head that sat on my shoulders.

"Bella I think-"

She took my other hand and placed it directly over my favorite body part. Now why did she have to go and do that?

"And then when you put your gun to his throat, I swear I was fuckin' drippin' down my leg." Her voice quivered and I knew that this was a lot more than what she was letting on to be.

Bella was scared and she was trying to hide from her fear. But, I was not going to give in this time. This time we needed to talk first. I needed for her to talk to me about her feelings on what had happened and I needed to clear the air about Bree.

There were too many things left unsaid between us, and Bella deserved to know the truth about whatever tale Edward had twisted in attempt to turn her against me. I needed to know that she still trusted me and I didn't want her to doubt my love, devotion or my sincere desire to protect her.

The silk robe she was wearing slipped off her shoulders and pooled at our feet. "I want to taste you," she whispered in my ear.

Sweet baby Jesus in a manager, I think I just came in my pants.

I took a couple of baby steps forward, looking like a toddler learning to walk for the first time, I was sure. My dick was so hard that it was screwing with my balance and the fact that Bella was playing with the hair at the nape of my neck and sucking on my ear lobe was not helping at all.

I cleared my throat. "First, we need to talk."

"I need to feel you baby." She was pulling on my clothes and kissing on my neck. "I want you."

I groaned, but held firm and sat her on the cedar chest at the foot of our bed. "Bella stop." I pulled away from her. "I need to tell you about Bree."

"I trust you Jazz. I don't need to know." Her fingers were nervously pulling on the buckle of my belt.

"Well, I need to tell you." I detached her fingers and scooped her robe off the floor, wrapping it around her. "And I need you to listen."

She sighed and pushed her arms through the sleeves. "Okay, fine."

I paced a little, not knowing where to start. "About five years ago, I was closing a case in Chicago when I got a call from Carlito Giannoni. His step-daughter Bree had been a witness to the murder of a member of the Montoya family. She refused the Witness Protection Program that the FBI offered her and he needed someone that she trusted to protect her until and after she testified. I went to high school with Bree and she was one of my best friends; her father knew that she would agree to have me as her bodyguard.

"For weeks after she testified we were constantly being followed and threatened. I was damn near pulling twenty-four hour shifts watching the shadows and trying to just stay one step ahead of the game. So in order for us to have somewhat of a normal life, we disappeared. The only people who knew were her fiancé Marcus DiCarlo and the FBI.

"We cut all contact with the outside world and hid out, almost in plain sight, in a little logging town call Forks, Washington. We spun the story around town that I was a computer programmer that worked from home and Bree was a writer. Marcus stayed with us as his job allowed, but was never seen in public with us. It worked for a few months until Marcus was followed to Forks from the airport in Seattle. He immediately recognized what was happening and led them off our trail until we could get out of town.

"By this time Bree was getting tired of all of the running and never really being with Marcus. She was tired of not _living_. So we came up with a plan to get rid of Bree Tanner. Carlito owned a beach house in Southern California. We showed up there one day out of the blue and started acting like we were normal people with everyday lives.

"A couple of weeks into it, Bree and Marcus had a very public argument that ended with him accusing her of cheating with me. We made sure that enough people saw the fight and that even the police were called for a possible violent domestic disturbance. A few days later a shoot-out was staged between myself, and Marcus who was assisted by two others from the Montoya crime family that were trying to get out of the 'business'. They were all "killed" and I was "shot" in the spine, rendering me paralyzed."

"What really happened to her?" Bella asked.

I took her hand and caressed her palm. "Bree and Marcus, under different names of course, now live off the coast of Spain on a little island teaching surfing lessons and selling scooter rentals to vacationers. The last time she contacted me was through an email under an assumed name." I opened the Internet browser on my phone and pulled up my email. "She sent me a picture of her ultra sound. Their baby boy should be about seven months old now."

Bella held my phone in her hand, running a finger over the tiny screen until the picture timed out. "I never doubted you Jasper. I knew that Edward was lying and I told him so."

"I don't know what he said to you about me Bella, but I would never jeopardize your safety." I held her face between my hands and looked deep into her eyes. "And what I feel for you is not some random fleeting emotion that blows with the wind. I love you with everything that I am and there is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for you."

"I know Jazz, I know. And I feel the same way. When he grabbed me, all I could think about was you and getting back here to be with you."

I leaned down and kissed her slowly, savoring the sweet taste of her lips and the fact that there was absolutely nothing that could separate us. Whatever hell she was going through was now my hell. She trusted and loved me, and that was all I needed to hear.

"I need you Jasper. Rough and hard," she panted against my lips. "I keep seeing him and imaging what could have happened if you hadn't gotten there in time. I can feel his hands on me. I need you to make it go away. Please," she begged, tears forming in her eyes.

This was the complete opposite of what I had expected her to say. I had anticipated that she would need some sort of physical reassurance, but I was expecting slow caresses and soft love making. But that was not what Bella said she wanted or needed.

There was no way that I could turn her down; I needed the exact same thing.

I pulled her to her feet and kissed her again, running my hands down her back and cupping her ass. She moaned and leaned into me, greedily sucking on my lips and running her tongue across mine as I walked her backwards to the bed.

Bella broke our kiss and promptly began undressing me. She unzipped my jeans and pushed them down over my hips. I stepped out and kicked them to the side.

"God, this is so sexy." She remarked, unlatching the gun that had been strapped to my leg underneath my jeans.

I felt her tongue on the back of my leg, in the bend of my knees and I damn near fell over. She kissed up the back of my thighs, hooked her hands in the waistband of my boxers and slowly pulled them down. She stood up again, rubbing her tits against my ass and placing butterfly kisses along my spine as she pulled my sweater over my head.

"I've wanted to do something for a while now."She said, running her hands up and down my chest.

"What?" I asked, breathless.

She dropped to her knees in front of me and took my entire dick into her mouth.

What the fuck?

I know for a fact that Bella was a virgin in every sense of the word before I came along, but the way she was sucking my dick would make a porn star jealous.

"Bella…" I tried to protest. Somehow this felt so wrong and so right all at the same time. I didn't know whether to stop her or encourage her for more.

"I need this," she whispered, before taking me into her mouth again.

She did this twirl thing around the head of my dick that made my toes curl and my hands fist in her hair. I was trying my best not to fuck her mouth, especially considering that her lips were already swollen, but then she grabbed my balls and with that the end of my gentleman demeanor.

"Oh fuck!"

I pushed my hips forward a bit, filling her mouth with JW. I watched her face as I moved, looking for any sign that I needed to stop. I felt her gag a bit, but she quickly adjusted, relaxing her throat muscles and taking more of me into her mouth.

"Fuck me that feels good," I practically growled, slamming my fist into the wall above her head. "You're so beautiful, so…fucking beautiful…with your lips…around my dick."

She hummed, fuckin' _hummed_, around my dick and I couldn't help but speed up my pace. Watching my dick slide in and out of her mouth had me on the edge of losing all types of control. I had to remind myself that this was Bella and not just some random chick with my dick in her mouth. But, I wanted to be _inside _of her sweet wet pussy when I came.

So I quickly pulled her to her feet and spun her around before she could protest.

"Baby, let me fuck you from behind." I pushed her up onto the bed, took her hands and placed them on the headboard. "Hold on tight for me."

I ran my hands down her sides and rubbed her ass cheek before slapping it. Bella let out a little yelp of excitement and turned to look at me over her shoulder.

"Do that again, daddy."

_Holy fuckin' cow I've created a monster!_

I complied, slapping the other cheek. She moaned and pushed her sweet little ass toward me, rubbing against JW and taunting him. I nudged her legs apart and in one strong thrust I was buried deep inside of her. Her head fell back as she groaned at the sensation.

"Oh fuck, again Jazz. Harder!"

I pulled out and slammed into her. Her head fell forward this time and for a moment I thought that I had gone too far.

"Bella-"

"No, don't stop." She panted quickly, wiggling her ass in search of friction. "Harder."

She was tight around me as I alternated between slow and control thrusts to fast and hard, accompanied by hip circles. She arched her back, and I slammed into her again, going deeper this time and hitting her J-spot.

"Is that it baby?" I asked, circling my hips, stroking my spot in one continuous loop. "Tell me, or I won't do it again."

"Yes, fuck yes! More!" she screamed. "Right there…right there...there!"

I ran my hands down her arms and covered her hands with my own where they were gripping the headboard. "Fuck…you feel…so good!" I began to pick up my speed, feeling the coil in my own stomach building. She used the headboard and pushed back even farther against me, urging me on.

I released one hand, reached around her and rubbed her clit before pounding into her. I felt her orgasm hit, sending her into a torrent of swear words and screams. At her request, I continued my assault, sending her into her second orgasm. Her reaction sparked my own and I shouted with my release.

My injured knee finally gave out and I fell against her back. We lay still joined, taking a moment for the intensity of our orgasms to fade.

And then I heard her crying.

"Bella?"

"I'm okay. You didn't hurt me," she reassured me. "I'm just…its just…I…"

"I know, its okay." I started to pull out, but she stopped me. "What do you need from me? Whatever it is, I'll do it."

She hiccupped through her tears. "Just stay…like this…for a little while. I just need to feel you."

I curled myself around her and held her while we she cried into her pillow. A little while later we showered and after pulling on our pajamas, fell back into bed exhausted.

* * *

My back hurt, my face hurt, my hands and my fingers hurt. Every cell in my body was sore and the more I continued to lie there, the worse the pain got. I fought the urge to get up; Bella was snuggled under me, slightly snoring in my ear and I didn't want to wake her. But at the same time there was a bottle of Tylenol with my name on it in the bathroom.

I gently rolled her over and placed a pillow next to her as a substitute for my body. Her snoring stopped for a second and then resumed. I limped to the bathroom and took the meds. As I was coming out I heard the faint sound of voices coming from downstairs.

With a check to make sure Bella was still sleeping, I opened the door and crept down the stairs. Peter and Char were in the kitchen, sitting cross legged on the floor, eating ice cream.

I looked up at the clock, squinting at the bright kitchen lights. "What are you two doing up at three o'clock in the morning?"

Peter shrugged. "We wanted a snack."

"How's Bella?" Char asked.

I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "She's gonna be okay."

"What about you? You look like hell." Peter pointed out.

"Thanks a lot bro." I pulled a spoon out of the drawer and dipped it into his bowl.

He slapped my hands away. "Well you do," he confirmed.

"I'm okay, I've had worse." I dipped my spoon into Char's bowl next.

"There is more in the freezer you know," she scolded me, pulling her bowl away. "But really, what can we do to help –"

We all heard it at the same time. Bella screaming.

I dropped the spoon and took off running, bad knee be damned. I took the stairs two at a time, Peter right on my heel. The bedroom door was cracked and I saw Emmett hovering over Bella, trying to hold her down as she fought him.

"NO! Get your hands off of me! STOP!"

"Bella! What the hell Emmett?" I shoved him back off of her.

Bella was huddled against the headboard, clawing at the sheets and screaming my name. I took a step forward, but stopped when I saw the fear in her eyes.

"It's me Bells, Jasper." I said softly, trying not to further terrify her. "It's okay baby."

"Jasper." She held her arms out and I pulled her into my embrace.

"What's going on Em?" I asked, giving him the evil eye.

"I heard voices downstairs and was on my to check it out when I heard her crying and saying 'no' and 'don't tie me up' over and over. When I tried to wake her, she just freaked out and didn't recognize me."

I sat back against the headboard with Bella tucked under my arm. One hand was fisted in my shirt and the other she had over her cheek, hiding. I pulled her hair out of her face and kissed the top of her head.

"Bella, you know that Em wasn't going to hurt you."

She nodded. "You weren't here when I woke up, and then he scared me."

Emmett slumped down on the cedar chest, head in his hands. "I was just trying to help."

"What were you dreaming about that had you saying 'don't tie me up'?" Rose asked, eyebrow quirked in my direction.

I sighed, knowing that the reason she had the nightmare was my fault. I should have never let her help me tie Edward up. Doing so probably sparked all kinds of repressed memories that she had of her own attack.

I explained to them what we had done to Edward.

Rose laughed and snorted. "God I wish I could have seen that."

Bella giggled a little, still clearly shaken.

Emmett just nodded and said, "But there's more to it than that."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

He took a deep breath, and faced Bella head on. "We need to know about your attack

Bells, because tonight obviously sparked your memories of what happened. It's

been months now, and we know nothing. It may help us to help you."

Whatever I was expecting him to say it damn sure wasn't that. And for the first time since Em had found out about our relationship, we agreed on something.

Bella looked at everyone and then up at me. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright then."

* * *

**A/N: So, Eddie boy not only got a little of Whitlock justice, but got some McCarty justice to go along with it! Some of you have been asking for Bella's story. That's up next and I'll give you a little warning, she went through a terrible time.**

**I'm eager to know what you all think, so hit that little review button down there!**

**I want to thank you all so much for your response to my story, please keep it up!**


	18. Chapter 18

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 18**

**Thanks to my betas Cullen818 and JamesRamsey! You guys rock!**

**SM owns it!**

* * *

**BPOV**

"Knock knock."

I looked up from the set of blueprints I had been staring at for over an hour. The tests that my team and I had conducted in the lab were not conclusive. I was missing a key component and I couldn't figure it out. Seth Clearwater, one of Emmett's accountants, stood in my office doorway smiling back at me.

"Still at work McCarty?"

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p'. I rolled up the schematics and encased them in its tube. "I see you're still burning the midnight oil too."

Seth sauntered in and took at seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk. "Yeah, your brothers a slave driver." He crossed his ankles and leaned back into the chair, hands crisscrossed behind his head. "Some of us guys are going to a new bar about a block from here. You wanna go?"

It had been blatantly obvious that Seth was interested in me. He had been hinting around asking me out by masking dates as group activities such as his current offer for the last few months now.

Several years ago, Emmett had established a no fraternization policy that pretty much forbid senior level managers from dating subordinates. He didn't want the company to take any chances on a sexual harassment charge. Even without the policy I was not inclined to take Seth up on his invitations. I liked him well enough, but technically I really wasn't available to date. One word: Edward. Our on again off again relationship was hard enough to define without adding extra people into the mix.

"Sorry Seth, I've got about another hour or so here catching up on paper work before I can even think about going home." I didn't want to throw the policy into his face; it wasn't like he was actually asking me out on a solo date.

He gripped the armrest of the chair and heaved himself up. "I know better than to try to convince you otherwise. One day I'll get you to say yes McCarty. Until then don't work too hard."

"Just be careful tonight Seth."

He paused in the doorway and turned back. "Thanks, you too. Make sure to call Felix before walking down to the garage tonight."

"'Kay, I will." I said, dismissing him with a wave and turned back to my work. It was actually another two hours before I looked up from the notes I had been writing. The building was quiet and there was a strange sense of transitioning from the busy workday daylight hours to after work nightlife hours.

I saved my files to two flash drives, locking one of the little pieces of hardware in my bottom desk drawer and depositing the other in my pants pocket. Jealous and desperate college classmates had taught me to never leave notes potentially exposed for roaming eyes.

My last year as an undergrad student I had worked all semester on my senior project only to have my notes stolen and my work duplicated. Fortunately my chemistry professor was well acquainted with my work and believed me when I made the case that my work had been stolen. The student involved in the case was expelled when he could not properly explain all aspects of the project, exposed for the thief that he was.

Since then I never save confidential information on my laptop and I never took any hand written notes that could be deciphered. The notes that I did short hand were written in a mixture of Latin, Italian, English and my own cryptic code that I had developed in high school. No one could even come close to figuring it out.

The March nights were unseasonably warm, yet still required a thin jacket. I tucked my laptop and notebook into my workbag, locked the blueprints in the wall safe, and pulled on my jacket before turning off the lights and locking my office door. Emmett had gone home hours before, needing to meet the contractor in charge of redoing our family home. We had made a few adjustments to the second floor, and needed to redo one of the bedrooms to put in a studio for Rose since she spent more time at our house than her own.

I thought briefly about calling Felix to walk me down to the parking garage but I didn't want to delay him from getting home. His wife, Gianna, had just given birth two weeks ago to a ten-pound baby boy and I knew that he was anxious to get home to them.

Several McCarty Enterprise employees got on and off the elevator at various floors, exchanging pleasantries as they entered or exited the small boxcar. By the time I had made it to the parking garage I was alone.

I never really liked partially empty parking garages; Rose and I had seen too many movies where a lone female always ended up attacked and defenseless. Three years prior Felix had overseen the installation of a top of the line security camera system and a guard checkpoint gate making sure that the employees of McCarty Enterprises, and the other companies that rented space in our building, were completely secure.

I pushed the thoughts of those helpless movie actresses out of my head and exited the elevator; keys ready in hand and prepared to jump into my car. Now that I look back on it, I guess I was so consumed with just getting to the car that I didn't hear the voice or see the men until it was too late.

"'cuse me Miss?"

I jumped nearly a foot at the voice behind me, dropping my new Louis Vuitton purse in the process. I snatched the expensive handbag off the ground and turned. "Yes?" I asked angrily, dusting off the bag before realizing that there were two of them and not just one.

"We was wunderin' if you could 'haps give us directions to Time Square. Ya see, we've never been to tha City 'fore."

"We're from Georgia." The other one added. The two men were wearing jeans, construction boots, black leather jackets and gold chains. Between the two of them they had enough gold to make Mr. T jealous and enough hair gel to fund the entire stage production of Grease. But something about them looked forced, almost like they had stepped out of an episode of The Sopranos and not out of the back woods of Georgia. There accents seemed wrong as well; they were both too much of a show.

Instinctively, I took two steps back and something told me to run, but I couldn't seem to get the message from my brain to my feet. "Umm, I always take the A train there. The station is about a block north of here though. Sorry."

I took another step back and nearly fell. One of the men reached out to steady me.

"Wow there 'lil lady. Be careful." The tall man said.

"Oh, thank you." I made to remove my arm from his grasp, but he held my wrist loosely in his hand.

"No need to rush off. How 'bout you let us take you out? We don't know anyone in the City and it would be nice to have a friend."

I noticed how his accent turned off and on.

"Umm, no thank you. My brother is waiting for me." I tried to extract my wrist again, but he tightened his grip.

"I don't think you were supposed to turn us down." The short fat greasy one said, advancing on me.

"I really have to go guys." I pulled on my wrist again.

It all happened so fast that it wasn't until later, much later, as I lay in the hospital that I realized what had actually happened. The short one grabbed my workbag and immediately dumped the contents on the ground. I kicked out, struggling and screaming at the tall one as he held me, one arm around my waist and the other around my throat.

"Where is it? Is it in here?" The short greasy fucker demanded, looking up at me from where he was crouched over the bag.

"Just take it man, she ain't gonna tell us!"

"Get your fucking hands off of me!" His hand came down on my mouth, silencing my screams. I may not have been able to scream, but that did not stop me from struggling.

"What if we can't get in it?" He asked, holding up my laptop.

"So what, that's not our problem. What else is in that bag?"

"Notebook. Is that all there is?" The short one demanded.

"Fuck off!" I screamed when my mouth was released. I kicked out, my foot making purchase on his face.

He dropped the laptop and stumbled back. "You bitch!" He took a step forward, slapped me, then grabbed my face with his hand and squeezed. "Tell us where it is."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but whatever it was, I wasn't going to tell him anyway.

"Hey man, let's just leave her," the tall one said, "we got what we need."

"You know, I don't think we're gettin' enough out of this deal."

His other hand came up and squeezed my breasts. I struggled against the hold the tall one held me in. The short greasy one punched me in the stomach and I doubled over in pain. I was released and fell to the ground, scraping my hands and knees.

"Dude, what the hell? Let's just go!"

"No way man. We're not making nearly enough considerin' who we got right here. If we're gonna do all the dirty work, then we need a little more compensation." He picked me up by my hair and ripped my blouse down the front. "I say we take our turn with this rich bitch and then lock her somewhere until her brother pays to find her."

"I'm not gonna get caught up in your bullshit man." He scooped up my laptop. "Her brother will murder us if he finds out. Let's just go."

"See that's just it, he won't find out and we'll make a little extra dough on the side." The hand in my hair twisted and he yanked my head back. "Tell us whore, how much do you think your brother will pay for you?"

"Just let me go," I begged, tears streaming down my cheeks.

He tisked, and mocked me, imitating my voice. "'Just let me go.'" He laughed, then slapped me again. I fell and he kicked me in the abdomen. "I'd say a few million at least." He crouched over me, using one hand to hold me upright by my hair while he used the other to fumble with the buckle of his belt. "I bet you're so rich that you're pussy's lined with gold."

"Look man, let her go and let's get the fuck out of here! This is not what we were hired to do!"

His crotch was right at eye level and I knew that if I had any chance of escaping what was about to come, I had to act immediately. If I could take him out then there was a good chance that I could convince his partner to let me go.

"Shut up! I'm callin' this one. I want her golden pussy _and_ the million dollar paycheck."

"Look man-"

Distracted, he looked up at his friend. "I said shut the fuck up! I'm-"

I pulled my arm back and with as much strength as I could muster, punched him directly between his legs. He howled in pain and fell back on his ass, taking a chunk of my hair that was wound around his fingers with him. I scrambled up, kicked off my stilettos and took off running. Behind me I heard the short fucker yelling at his friend to catch me.

I was parked on the eighth floor of the garage with no real means of immediate escape. I could run down the levels, but given the fact that I was sure I had a few bruised-if not broken-ribs now, my breathing was starting to labor and I still felt like I was going to puke from being punched. So I took off in the direction of the elevators.

I was running for my life and making pretty good progress when I was tackled from behind. We slid across the concrete and I felt my head strike one of those stone parking space markers. The short fucker limped over to me; he smiled down at me and spit in my He was kicking and punching me and I felt my grip on reality fading.

When I finally woke it was pitch black and my arms were trapped underneath me. I rolled slightly to the side to alleviate some of the pressure. They felt like a thousand needles were sticking in them from the lack of blood circulation. That temporarily brought me out of my haze.

I could hear rodents running across the floor and smell their droppings mixed in with the scent of machine oil. I hated all types of rats, mice, hamsters and guinea pigs. Especially when they were close enough that I could feel them running over my hair, pulling at my scalp.

Taking stock of my bodily injuries, I noted that my hands were tied behind my back, my feet were bound and there was duct tape over my mouth. I could feel a lump on the side of my head above my right eye, which I knew had been bleeding, but was now swollen because I could hardly open it. Every part of my torso hurt. I took a couple of deep breaths trying to ascertain whether or not I could feel any broken ribs. I didn't know if they were broken, but definitely knew a few of them were badly bruised.

My first priority was getting my hands free. If I could get them free then I could fight when those two asshats came back for me. I twisted my wrist a few times, even scrapping my wrist on the floor to try to tear the tape. When I felt my skin rub raw, I finally gave up. The duct tape was apparently wrapped several times around my wrist, and struggling to free myself was wasting precious energy and brain function. It was starting to anger me, and I needed to keep a clear head.

I had no idea where I was and I was desperately trying to calm my nerves to figure a way out. I began reciting the periodic table and balancing chemical equations to center my thoughts. If nothing else, at least my brain was still working.

I rolled again, sitting upright and managed to get my feet out in front of me. My head spun with the motion, and I took a second to get my bearings before I started scooting across the filth that I could only imagine I had been lying in. I only got about a foot or two before I bumped into a solid concrete wall. I could feel the cobwebs that I had managed to get tangled in and I prayed that spiders would not start running down my neck. I hated fucking insects too.

I worked on the duct tape covering my mouth, trying to stick my tongue between my lips so that I could wet and weaken the hold of the tape. The simple effort I expended doing that left me tired and breathless. I breathed heavily thorough my nose and I felt the snot blood mixture drip down past the tape to my chin. I shivered in the cold night air, causing my head, arms, legs, chest, ribs and just my whole fucking body hurt. I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness and I let it take me.

I woke several times over the next, who knows how long, of a period of time. I hated falling asleep because I knew that the rats, bugs and whatever else were probably nibbling on me. But it couldn't be helped, and at least I couldn't _see _them feasting on me.

There was no way to know where I was or how long I had been there. In the distance I could hear cars, muffled voices and what seemed like the whirl of engines. Every time the engines turned on a cold blast of air filled the room, stirring up the scent of dead rats, feces, and dried blood. The scent seemed to hang in my lungs and made my eyes burn. I had not been able to free the tape and had only been able to manage a few inches scooting in either direction before fatigue took over and I succumbed to the darkness again.

Several times while awake, I could feel the rats running across my legs. I kicked out at them and killed a few of them even, smelling the coppery tang of their fresh blood. The spiders and insects crawled over me, biting me repeatedly.

I think it was about the fourth rat that I had killed that made me determined to get the hell out of wherever I was. It was apparent that my two attackers were not going to come back for me. I was hungry, weak and I had not only peed myself but defecated as well. My survival instincts kicked in and spent only God knows how long trying to get that tape off my mouth.

After what seemed like hours, I felt one end give way. I then scraped that end across my shoulder, using the friction of what was left of my jacket to loosen it even further. I felt the fucker pull completely free and I cried out with joy. The sound of my voice surprise me, it was the only familiar thing that I had heard in so long.

Getting that tape free gave me a renewed sense of purpose. If I could get the tape free then I could get to the door of the hell that I was trapped in. There was a dim light directly in front of me coming through the vent grate of the steel door. The grate was used for ventilation for the room, but it was also the vessel that pumped in the muffled sounds beyond the steel. I needed to get to that door.

But first I needed to rest. I allowed myself a few moments to catch my breath before pushing myself across the floor. I had to stop every few feet in order to rest and by the time I had made it to the door the fading light was now gone along with the sounds of muffled voices. It was just as well as I was too tired to do anything but welcome the darkness again anyway.

I woke to what sounded like a horn blaring. My head was throbbing but when I opened my eyes and saw how close I was to the door, I gave myself a moment to celebrate my victory. My salvation was nearer than before.

I heard the muffled voices and took a deep breath, ready to scream. My ribs hurt at the force I expended in screaming. The voices stopped and I heard what sounded like the ding of an elevator bell. My heart dropped in defeat.

I rested my head against the cold steel of the door and waited. I was determined to get out of that hell. A little while later I heard another set of voices, took second deep breath and screamed for all that I was worth.

And then I heard it.

"You hear that?"

"Hear what?"

I screamed again.

"Sounds like someone screaming."

"This _is_ New York," the voice chuckled.

I took another deep breath and screamed. "Help me! Help me!"

"No, I'm serious. I hear something."

The voice was getting closer. My throat was raw from screaming already, but I knew that this may be my last chance. So I turned my face away from the grate and kicked out against the door with my bound feet.

"There. Now I hear banging."

"Yeah, I hear it too."

I screamed and banged against the door again.

"In here!"

I heard a series of knocks on the door.

"Is someone in there?"

"Help me!" I screamed as loud as I could. "Please let me out!"

"Hey, go call Felix!" The voice said, as the door knob shook. "Someone's in here!"

I lay my head against the metal door frame, and for the first time since I had been in hell, allowed my emotions to take over and cried hysterically, listening to the three of the best sounds in the world: sirens, voices and the rattle of keys.

**JPOV**

Even though I had the distinct ability to read other people's emotions, I'd never been overly emotional myself. Except for my little break down a few hours before when I saw Bella being kidnapped, I hadn't really cried since my father died nearly fifteen years ago. To me, men who cried all the time were just flat out pussies. Sure I shed a tear or two at the funerals of friends or distant relatives, but that was mostly for show. To show that I did have a fuckin' heart.

But as I listened to Bella's story of being beaten and being trapped in a living hell for five fuckin' days, I balled like a baby. She had awoke in the middle of the night screaming in terror from a nightmare and when she saw that I wasn't there beside her, that set her off. Emmett had come into our room to try to reassure her but only succeeded in scaring her even more.

When she finally stopped screaming and shaking from her nightmare, she started talking. After she finished we all sat around her, holding on to each other and crying silently, looking from one person to another.

The silence hung heavy in the air, pregnant with unspoken meaning. Rose and Char were the worse though; I imagined that they would have some sort of nightmares themselves from listening to Bella's story.

There were no words to describe what I was feeling. Anger was probably the first emotion that I could articulate. I couldn't even begin to imagine being trapped like that. To be trapped in the dark, bound and gagged and sitting in filth with bugs and rats running over you and eating your flesh like you were their last supper was enough to break down even the meanest, toughest, bad ass motherfucker. To think that Bella, at five feet two inches tall and a hundred and fifteen pounds, had withstood that type of torment for five days and was still fully functional was absolutely amazing. It was no wonder she had nightmares; I now wondered how she even slept at all.

I was enraged and wanted to find the two fuckers responsible for doing this to her. More importantly, it made me even more determine to find whoever hired the two jerk off's in the first place. The way she had been treated was inhumane; I didn't want some other poor, unsuspecting individual to fall victim to this sadistic fucker.

Bella had never told anyone, not even me, this much detail about what had happened to her; she had wanted to protect _us_ from _her_ nightmares. But the words had gone unspoken for too long and I think that talking now was sort of a catharsis for her. A mental purge. I didn't for the life of me know how she held it in for this long.

"I'd like to go to sleep now." She said, simply looking at each of us like we hadn't just been down Nightmare on Bella Street.

Emmett made a move to hug her, but she stopped him with an outstretched open palm. She didn't want sympathy, and to her hugs and whispered endearments were sympathy.

I somewhat understood, but I could detect the war within each of us. _We_ needed to hug, to cry, to scream in frustration at what had happened to someone we loved. _We_ needed that outlet. And even though we could see and touch and feel her, we needed more of a reassurance that she was real and alive and with us.

I needed it.

But Bella was not at a place to accept it yet.

So, I needed to be whatever she needed more. I would find other means to release the emotions that were swirling within me, namely, finding these fuckers. My new, secondary mission was to find them and annihilate them.

Emmett settled for kissing her forehead and left clutching Rosie to his side as they exited our bedroom for their own bedroom. I didn't know if Em had made amends with Rose, but whatever the status of their relationship, I was sure that after hearing what we had just heard, it didn't matter at the moment. Peter and Char exited in similar fashion, both clearly shaken. Bella was the little sister that he never had, and he was just as protective of her as Emmett or I was; her story was hard on him too.

I turned off the lights and pulled her to me, her back to my chest and held her tight.

"I'm glad you guys know now," she said softly.

Her story certainly closed just about all of the gaps of missing information that I had tried to piece together over the last few months, and at the same time opened a few more. We would have to talk about those gaps later, but right now I needed to do damage control. I took her uninjured hand into mine and ran my thumb across her knuckles.

"Thank you for telling us." I kissed her exposed shoulder. She was once again wearing one of my button-down shirts that was about three times her size. It gaped open at the neck, exposing her breasts and the finger bruises from Edward's paws.

Anger coursed through me at the sight of those marks, but I quickly pushed the emotions away. I didn't want to upset Bella with my mood.

She yawned. "I'm so tired."

"Sleep baby, no one will ever hurt you again."

She turned to face me, careful of her arm and kissed me tenderly. "Jazz, will you make love to me?"

I knew that she was worn out, her little body was literally shivering with exhaustion not hours before; I didn't want Bella using sex as an escape from her emotional pain.

I ran my fingers through her hair. "Bella-"

"This is different Jazz," she began placing tiny kisses on my neck. "I'm not tryin' to escape my feelings," she said as if she had read my mind. "I feel better than I have in a long time, and I just want you." Her one hand was tugging on my basketball shorts and when she was not successful in getting them down, she slipped her hot little hand inside and wrapped her fingers around my nearly hard erection.

I stopped her, placing my hand over hers. "Babe, you've had a long day and you should to rest. I'm not going anywhere." I mentally laughed at the situation. Why was I always trying to talk Bella _out _of sex? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

She looked up at me, eyes shining in the moonlight. "Jazz, I just want to feel you inside of me." She began moving her hand underneath mine, pumping my now fully alert and ready for some action erection.

Our tongues met, swirling around each other in a sensual dance. I rolled over on her, being careful of her injuries and braced my forearms on either side of her head to keep my weight off of her.

I rested my forehead against hers. "Baby, are you sure?"

She didn't verbally answer me, but nodded and hooked her one good thumb in the waistband of my shorts in an attempt to shimmy them down my legs again. I stopped her hands. If I was going to do this then I was going to do it right. After all, this time she had asked me to make love to her, not fuck her. There was a big difference between the two.

I trailed wet kisses from her neck downward to her collarbones and then through the valley of her breasts, unbuttoning the shirt as I went. Bella grinded upwards, and I could feel her hot wet arousal against me. I was drunk from the smell of her arousal and it took all the willpower I had to slow down and make this last.

I paid special attention to her belly button, twirling my tongue in and out of it while Bella twitched in anticipation. The fingers of her good hand were tangled in my hair, pushing me down to where she needed me the most. I took my sweet time, tracing the line of skin along the top of her purple lace panties with my tongue.

"Jazz please…" she panted, her back arching off the mattress as I teased her entrance through the lace with my finger.

I ran my finger along the edge of the crotch of her panties. "What do you want me to do?"

She struggled to catch her breath. "Touch me, please."

I pulled her panties down her legs and tossed them aside, kissing her thighs on my ascent. I touched her clit with my cold finger. She bucked underneath me.

"Do you want me here?" I murmured against her sensitive flesh.

"Yes, yes please."

"Finger?" I ran my finger along her clit coating it in her juices. "Tongue?" I dipped my head and tasted her briefly, laving up more of her arousal. "Or cock?" I rubbed the head of my painfully hard cock on her clit, mixing my pre-cum with her honey. She didn't answer. "Tell me what you want Isabella."

Her hips grinded into me, seeking friction. "I want your cock. Please," she begged.

I took her nipple into my mouth, rolling it against my tongue then nipped at it with my teeth. "You never have to beg. Spread your legs a little more baby." I whispered against her ear. She shivered in anticipation and opened for me.

I lifted her leg, placing the bend of her knee in the crook of my arm and thrust inside her. She frantically pulled at my shoulders until I was lying completely over her, her knee against her chest. I waited a moment, allowing her to adjust to me filling her before I began moving.

"Oh God… you feel…so good." She panted, fingernails digging into the flesh of my back. "Don't stop."

The way she was holding me, spurred me on. I thrust harder, going deeper at the new angle. Bella wrapped her other leg around my waist, heel pressed into my ass as if to set my pace.

It didn't matter how much I tried to slow down or draw the moment out for her, Bella was meeting me thrust for thrust, urging me to go faster and deeper. It was never just simple love making for us. I slipped an arm underneath her and lifted her hips off the mattress.

"I love…the way…you fuck…me!"

"Say my name. Say it!" I demanded as I pounded into her. I released the leg that I was holding and sat back on my haunches, pulling her upward. I wrapped both of her legs around my waist. With this new position I could lift her up and down on my dick. "Say my fucking name!" I commanded again, punctuating each word with a thrust.

Bella leaned backwards over my arms that were locked around her waist, her long hair sweeping against the mattress.

"Jasper! Jasper!" She screamed out her release, cumming hard over my dick.

The combination of the sound of our bodies slapping together, our sweat intermingling and her tits bouncing as I continued to slam her down over my dick had me near cumming. She came a second time, screaming out louder this time. I squeezed her ass, bit down on her neck and came so hard that I had a brain freeze. It was similar to when you eat ice cream too fast, the only difference being that I would gladly welcome the feeling if I could cum like that again.

Bella pushed me down to the mattress, her body hovering over mine and kissed me. "Keep that up Whitlock and we're never leaving this room."

**BPOV**

I woke with a start, the sound of Emmett's booming voice reverberating off of the walls.

"Dammit Rosie, listen to me!"

"Go suck it Emmett McCarty, there's nothing you can say that I want to listen to!"

The sound of a bedroom door being slammed echoed down the hallway, followed by Emmett yelling and banging on the door.

Jasper chuckled and pulled me closer to him. We lay quietly for a while, listening to Em and Rose yell at each other through the bedroom door while we savored our own peaceful morning. "What's going on?" I asked.

"From what I've heard, Em's been trying to apologize to Rose for the last forty-five minutes, but he keeps screwing it up."

"He's got four years worth of ass-holeness to make up for," I said. "And Rose is not going to make it easy for him."

"Why would she go along with keeping their relationship a secret for so long?"

I absentmindedly toyed with the silver dog tags lying on his chest. "I asked her that myself yesterday before Ana Marie came over."

_We were in the laundry room, helping Angela catch up on household chores._

"_Rose," I said, staking the laundry that I had just finished folding into neat little personalized piles, "why would you and Em feel the need to sneak around for four years like this?"_

_She refused to look up at me, but continued to fold the towel in her hands. "I've asked myself that question a million times over the last four years Bells, and I don't really have an answer." She sighed and sat down on the stool at the folding counter. "At first I think it was the age difference that kept us from telling anyone. It was fun, sneaking around and doin' it without anyone knowing. Then I think we were both afraid of what you would say." She held her hand up to stop my protest. "I know, I know, you're thrilled for us. But back then we didn't know how you would react."_

"_But four years Rose?"_

_Tears formed in her eyes. "We were both so busy with our careers, ya know? I mean, before this year, Em's never been one to hang around the house much. He was always on the other side of the world conducting business." She wiped a tear away. "I figured that if he really loved me or cared even half as much as I did about him, then he would stop traveling so much. And you know how I am, hard exterior and marshmellowie on the inside; I didn't want him to know how much I cared just in case he didn't feel the same way. So we never really talked about it."_

_I laced my fingers through one of her hands and hugged her to me while she cried on my shoulder. "Rose, you gotta talk to him. I mean really talk to him. Tell him everything you're feeling."_

_She laughed. "You're one to talk Bella. Expressin' how you feel is not you're strongest quality either."_

"_True, but do you really love him?  
_

_She nodded._

"_Jasper's always telling me that communication is the foundation of love. How can you love him if you don't communicate with him?"_

"I think she will talk to him, she's just gonna need a little time," I said, after recounting the story for Jasper.

Another door slammed shut and now Rose was swearing at the top of her lungs at Emmett.

"I hope they work things out before they tear the house down," Jasper said, turning me in his arms and spooning me. "We need to talk about a few things B."

"I know."

He laced his fingers through mine. "Those guys, they never sent a ransom note to Emmett, did they?"

"No. I've often wondered why, but I haven't come up with an answer. It's almost like unfinished business; like they were going to come back for me but then forgot."

"Can you describe the way they look?"

"Somewhat; it was dark, but I was able to give the police a good enough description. They could never find anyone even close to what I described though. I'm wondering if the guys that attacked me are the same ones that are after me now. Maybe all they really want is money."

"I don't think so," Jasper said. "Remember you said that they kept referring to what they were hired to _get_. It has to be whoever their employer is. What else do you think they were looking for?"

"Probably my flash drive. I keep all of my schematics and plans on it. I have two, one that I keep with me at all times, and one that I leave locked in my desk at the office."

"Who else would know that?"

I shrugged. "No one other than Em I guess. But it's not like it's an uncommon practice. Whoever it is that wants it could just be guessing that I have some sort of back up for my files."

"What about the person that you say stole your research back in college? Who was that?"

"I don't even remember his name."

"I need you to give that some serious thought. It could be related." He sat up in bed and leaned back against the headboard. "I need to ask you something else B."

"What?"

"Why is it that you never talked to a professional about any of this?"

He knew that this was a touchy subject for me but asked anyway.

I didn't answer.

"Baby, please. This is not a bad thing. Many people seek professional help after experiencing a traumatic event."

I still didn't answer, but got up and started pulling on my robe.

"So you're ignoring me now? Is that how we deal with issues now?"

I turned and gave him a murderous glare. The words that I had preached to Rose about communication were coming back to haunt me. "I talk to people. I talk to Rose and Emmett, and up until now, you."

"Don't be like that Bella. You know that none of us have the knowledge of how to really deal with this stuff."

"And what _stuff_ would that be Jasper?" I yanked open a drawer on the dresser and started pulling out clothes. "You think I'm crazy," I accused.

He threw the covers back and pulled on his basketball shorts. "Stop it Bella and just calm down. I do not think you are crazy. But babe, what's the big deal, why are you fighting this so hard?"

"I don't know how to explain it."

He put his arms around my waist; I relaxed against his chest. "It's me babe, just say it." He stroked my hair and waited.

I sighed again and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "When I was seven they did this IQ test at school. I scored a hundred and forty three. They made me take it again and I scored one sixty. I became like this freak of nature at school. A fucking genius.

"Most of the teachers didn't want me in their class because I corrected them a lot and I was smarter than the other kids. I can't even begin to describe the torture that the kids at school inflicted on me. Twice a week they made me go to this shrink who was fascinated with me. She researched me like some fuckin' science project and wanted me to go to a special school with other little freaks like me. Emmett refused and finally convinced dad to not let them send me, but I still had to go to the shrink.

"She made me feel like I didn't belong anywhere, and I didn't. Even the smart kids hated me. It was like I needed to be placed on a shelf somewhere because they couldn't classify me." I balled and twisted the tee shirt I had in my hands into a little ball out of frustration. "God Jazz, I explained the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics to my second grade teacher when I was _seven_! I'm tired of feeling like a freak. I don't like being the center of attention and I don't want some stranger fuckin' with my mind."

He took my hands into his, trying to reassure me with his touch. "Babe, there are professionals who are truly professionals and won't make you feel that way. They will encourage you to express how you feel about what's been happening with you without judging you. Think of all the elevator rides you're missing out on or what if you need to go in a parking garage one day?"

"Jasper-"

"Just think about it, okay. I care about you and I want only the best for you."

"I'll think about it, but I won't promise anything."

* * *

I promised Jasper that I would think about talking to a professional, and I did think about it. He had a valid point, so did Emmett when he suggested it months before, as did Rose when she mentioned it. I just wasn't ready to have my mind fucked with yet.

The day after I came home from Edward's "cabin", Detective Victoria Simpson paid us a visit. She said that one of the reporters that had been camped out beyond the gates called in a disturbance involving a silver Hummer. We assured her that all was well and after checking the property perimeter, Jasper and Peter in tow, she extended her services should we need her and left.

I never saw Ana Marie again. Rose said that she apologized profusely before Angelo came to get her; they were making plans to disappear, wanting to get as far away from Edward as possible.

Honestly, after hearing her story it was hard to be mad at her. I asked myself over and over if I would have done the same to protect Jasper, Em or Rose, and the answer was always _yes_. People will do out of character things to protect the ones they love. Rose also said that Ana Marie felt in her heart that Edward would not hurt me and only wanted to talk to me. I think she was probably right.

I didn't think Edward set out to hurt me either, and I believed that the text he sent to Jasper was initially a means to goad him. Not to say that it was my fault or that Edward was justified in attacking me, but I did purposely provoke him. I knew what buttons to push with him, and I pushed every one of them several times over up until he just snapped.

On that note, I was glad that I was able to inflict a little McCarty justice on him. He needed to be brought down a notch or two, and while being locked in his immaculately clean basement was nothing in comparison to what I had been through, he was going to experience that sense of hopelessness, and loneliness that comes with being held captive.

Sure, we could have just called the police, but knowing how much two ton Swan hated me and our family, there wasn't much of a chance that justice would have been served anyway. Edward's team of lawyers would have sprung him from jail, if it had even gotten that far, within minutes and he still wouldn't have been taught a lesson. Who knows if the way we left him would teach him anything, but it sure was fun!

The next couple of days passed in relative peace, that is, unless your name was Emmett or Rose. Their yelling and screaming had reached an all new level. Jasper and Peter even had to step in at one point and forbid them from being in the same room if they could not be civil toward one another.

In order to not upset the entire house even further, Emmett often stayed at the office working later and later each night. And while Rose did not technically have an 'office', she stayed secluded in her studio at the house when Emmet was at home.

Rose was an emotional eater and shopper and since she had to have either Jasper, Peter or Ben to accompany her when shopping, she opted to shop online _while_ eating. By the end of the first week of the McCarty/Hale standoff, she had spent seven thousand dollars and gained eight pounds. This stressed her out even more which threw her into a downward spiral of more eating and shopping and then crying since she could no longer fit into her new True Religion jeans.

Char and I racked our brains with trying to find a way to pull her out of her funk, but nothing we did seemed to work. Rose stated that she would eventually pull herself together, she just needed a few days to be crazy and then all would be well again. Jasper, in a moment of instant stupidity, asked her how that would be different than how she normally is and nearly lost an ear when she went at him with her shiv.

After being kidnapped and then telling my story, Jasper was reluctant to leave my side for a second. I could tell that my ordeal had affected him deeply, and it was almost like he could keep his own nightmares about it at bay as long as he kept me in his close proximity. I tried my best to be understanding about it all, but he was seriously starting to hover and I was seriously considering tying him to a chair just so that I could have a few minutes alone.

With all of the fighting, yelling and hovering, my only real sanctuary was my lab; and even that proved to be more of a thorn in my side than a haven. Trying to conduct my experiments with the cast on was extremely difficult and frustrating. But my relief soon came in the form of a short, Spike look-a-like with creepy little hands.

The background check for James Cope came back so clean that it squeaked. Jasper was not happy about it and hired another P.I firm to do another, deeper search into James's past. I got an email two days later from the firm; this one too had turned out clean. By the end of the last day of my full week back at work I had issued an offer of employment to James and he readily accepted.

Having James as my right hand man was either going to prove profitable to my research or a hindrance when it came to dealing with Jasper's attitude toward the man. Every time he saw James he sneered at him, emitting a low grade growl that he was not even aware of until I pointed it out to him one afternoon. Jasper's only response was to say that James had better keep his creepy little hands where he could see them or he would be happy to detach them from his body.

So it was with great trepidation I found myself standing outside of the office, staring at the letters on the door. My palms were sweaty and my stomach was flip flopping like a fish out of water. I was either going to go in, or I was going to puke my guts out.

I took a deep breath, turned the knob and pushed open the door.

"Isabella! I'm so glad that you made it. Have a seat please."

"Thank you Dr. Dwyer for seeing me on such short notice."

"No need to thank me Bella. I'm so glad that you finally decided to talk to someone. Tell me, what are you expecting to get out of our therapy sessions?"

I fidgeted with my hands, not knowing where to put them. "I want the nightmares to stop, I want to be able to park my car in the parking garage again and I want to be able to use the elevator with other people. But most importantly, I want to be _me_ again."

* * *

**A/N: I would like to thank all the readers who added me to your alert/favorite list. And I'm sending out big, wet, sloppy kisses to all of you who take the time to review. I read all of them and although FFN was acting funky with the last chapter, I do my best to respond to each one.**

**It is my goal to continue posting chapters every week. However, I have come to an impasse of sorts and I am not sure what will happen next in the story. Times like these make me wish I had written an outline because I've already written chapter 19 three times and it's still not right! :) I'm thinking of throwing in a little Em/Rose drama but so far they are not only not talking to each other, but they're not talking to me either. I will see what happens. Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated and I will send out a sexy naked dancing Jasper as payment to the best ideas.**

**Thank you all for reading and your continued support!**

**Oh, one more thing before I go (i know, i know-i need to shut up already) but I'm posting an EmPOV as an out take to chapter 15, so check my profile page. It has no real bearing on the main story, but it's just a little bit of his thoughts before he came home to aforementioned naked dancing Jasper. I did not send it off to be beta'd (they are busy enough without reading my ramblings), so please foregive the typos and such. **


	19. Chapter 19

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To Keep You Safe

**Chapter 19**

**Thanks Cullen818 and JamesRamsey, who, even though it's ECLIPSE week *squee* took their precious time to beta this for me. I heart you guys almost as much as I do horseback riding Jasper!**

**Also, thanks to GLee68 who beta'd the medical portion of this to make sure I had the facts correct!**

**SM owns it, I just stalk them!**

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**JPOV **

"Will you shut up and listen to me?" Emmett yelled.

"I don't have time to listen to your bullshit, McCarty. Go find someone else to take advantage of!"

"I did not take-" A door slammed and Emmett wailed out in pain. "That's my fuckin' hand!"

"Then keep it out of my door dumbass!"

"How long have they been screaming at each other this time?" I asked Bella, as I came into the kitchen through the back door. I could hear their screams from outside and across the yard. I had gotten up early to walk the perimeter of the property. Not only did it ease my mind to know that there had been no breach of security during the night, but it also gave me a few minutes of peace and quiet away from Rose and Emmett. When I had left the house they had been fighting, and now it was more than an hour later and they were _still_ at it.

She checked her watch and turned back to the newspaper she had been reading. "They stopped for about forty minutes after you left, but they've been at it again for almost twenty minutes this go-round."

They had been fighting non-stop for two weeks, and instead of things getting better, I think they were getting worse. It had also been almost two weeks since Edward had kidnapped Bella and we had locked him in his basement. In all that time, I had not let Bella out of my sight for more than an hour at a time. Who knew when Edfucktard would pop back up or when her stalker would rear his ugly head?

I knew that my hovering was starting to drive her crazy, but at the same time I was deathly scared to be away from her. I couldn't afford to be caught off guard again; this woman was my life and even though Ben was now officially on her security detail, and I had complete trust in him, I still felt the need to be by her side at every moment.

"Dammit Bella, you know that's not acceptable." I could see her collar bones and the 'V' of her cleavage and I was salivating to get at them. I swiped a hand across my chin to make sure that I wasn't drooling.

She looked down at the skirt she was wearing and then back up at me with a sexy smirk on her face. "The rules don't apply since you got fired."

"I did not get fired."

In a way I was grateful that Ben had relieved me of duty, it gave me more time to dig into James' background, run a query on the list of cars that Detective Newton had passed along to Emmett a few weeks earlier, launch a more in depth investigation on McCarty Enterprises security staff and why the camera's had failed the night Bella was attacked and the list went on and on.

On the down side, I would be spending a better part of each day away from Bella and she would be around James Cope without me; that made me nervous. Today would be the first day away from her and I was starting to have doubts.

"Umm, yes ya did, you got fired Donald Trump style!" She quipped.

"Anyways," I said, ignoring her joking, "couldn't you put on some pants or something babe?"

"We have a board meeting today Jasper, and I have to present in front of thirteen stuffy, conservative old men and two dried up old biddies who would like nothing more than to kick me out on my ass. Especially since our little tabloid photo shoot." Damn those pictures, that was one more thing added to my already growing list of things to check into. "Plus, aren't you going to be out all day anyway?"

I poured her a glass of orange juice. "Yeah, and that reminds me, make sure that you tell Ben where you are at all times B. I don't want him running all over the building looking for you."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not a child Jasper."

"No, you're not, but you are incredibly too obstinate for your own good. Promise me B."

She tried to change the subject. "I'm not so sure that Ben is the right person for my security detail. I mean, he's just so much into his tech stuff that he may be distracted or something."

"Ben is completely competent in what he does. He's an ex Green Beret that spent five years in the jungles of South America tracking and fighting drug lords. He knows how to kill a man fifty-two ways with a hair pin."

"Well that's helpful if I ever get attacked by a bunch of hair accessories," she deadpanned.

"Smart ass."

"Jasper-"

"No Bella, promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

She huffed, blowing the hair out of her eyes. "I promise, I promise."

I squeezed her cheeks together until her lips puckered. She laughed and I quickly kissed her with a loud playful smacking noise. I loved this woman so much it fuckin' hurt sometimes.

"You want breakfast?"

She looked at me with raised eyebrows. "And what did I do to earn my breakfast being cooked by my sexy boyfriend?"

I tied the "Kiss Me I'm A Sexy Cook" apron on and leaned down to kiss her quickly. "I can think of few things."

She grinned and pulled me closer for a deeper kiss. "Tell me," she murmured against my lips, "so I'll know exactly what to do the next time too."

"Well, you know that tongue twirling thing you do at the head of my cock?" I whispered, as I lightly bit down on her ear lobe. She _mmmed_ and tilted her head so that I would have better access to her neck. "Then, when you grab my balls and hum?" I hummed in her ear, mimicking her. She squealed and nudged me away with her shoulder. I held her close and sucked on a spot on behind her ear. "And then you used your teeth to-"

"Fuck me, that has to be about the most disgusting thing I've ever heard." Rose complained, standing in the kitchen doorway with her hands on her hips.

"You might wanna listen, maybe pick up some pointers." Em shot back at her, coming into the kitchen from down the back stairs.

I didn't know if I was more stunned at Emmett's callous comment about his sister's expertise at giving blow jobs or the fact that he hadn't yet strung me up by my balls for being the recipient of one from her.

They stared at each other for a moment, Bella and I looking back and forth between the two.

"Ya know, you're right." Rosie said, coming to stand beside Bella. "I could so use some advice for my _date_ tonight. So tell me Bells, how do you fit Jasper's monster cock all the way down your throat? Seeing as how Em's junk barely fit in my cheek, I need to know how to please a _real_ man."

Bella coughed and choked on her orange juice, turning a deep shade of tomato red. I cleared my throat, nearly choking myself at her blatant vulgarity-even I was shocked-and pulled down a skillet off the rack to cook the bacon.

"Rose!" Bella warned. Emmett was turning a bright shade of angry purple, and I was sure she didn't want Rose egging him on.

"Seeing as how big your mouth is, that's quite the compliment Rose," Em said.

She ignored Emmett's remark. "You'll love Sam, Bella. I just met him a few weeks ago at a new gallery opening, and he's so interesting to talk to."

"So Jasper, do you need some help there?" Bella asked, trying to change the subject.

"Sure, can you get the eggs and cheese out?"

"He's part owner of the gallery." Rose continued. "And he was the featured artist that night."

Bella busied herself cracking eggs and mixing in the cheese while I flipped the bacon. I stole a glance at Emmett, who seemed intent on reading the newspaper that Bella had abandoned. I could tell that he was trying not to pay attention to what she was saying, but the way his head was angled to the side, it was evident that he was listening intently.

"Toast or waffles?" I asked Bella.

"Let's do toast."

It was almost comical how much we were trying to stay out of Rose's one sided conversation.

"And did I mention how muscular he is? He used to be a Calvin Klein underwear model!"

"That's good, he'll need all of those muscles to pick you up after you've eaten," Em said, gaze running up and down Rose's newly defined _curves_.

Bella gasped at her brother's insensitivity, and the room fell silent. I grimaced internally, knowing that I was going to be too late in apprehending Rose. It took about one tenth of a second for her to respond, attacking him with her fingernails.

She went for his eyes; managing to knock him off of his bar stool as she fell on top of him, scratching and clawing. Emmett howled in pain like a wounded animal. I caught Rose around her waist and yanked her back off of him. She struggled against me and I was suddenly glad that it was not me who she was attacking; Rose was one helluva strong broad.

"Knock it off Rose!"

"Emmett!" Bella yelled, stepping between them. "How can you be so stupid?"

"You fuckin' bastard! Lemme go Jasper! I hate you motherfucker!"

"I hate you too bitch!" Emmett yelled back at her, struggling to push Bella away from him as he went at Rose.

"Stop it, both of you!" Bella yelled. "You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

The knee that Edward had kicked was still very much sore and as Rose kept struggling, I could feel it giving out under the pressure. I stepped back and tripped over the fallen bar stool. Rose fell on top of me, her elbow punching me in the gut. She narrowly missed taking out JW with her elbow and I took a second to readjust him.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Peter asked. He picked Rose up off of me and then extended his hand to help me up. "You okay?"

Bella picked up the fallen stool and pushed me down into it. "You need to have Carlisle look at that knee."

"It's okay, I'm fine."

"No you're not," she scolded. "You've been limping around on it for two weeks now."

"Day-um Em, looks like you've been wrestling with a mountain lion!" Char said, coming into the kitchen.

Emmett had several fingernail gouges on his face, a busted lip and two long scratches on his neck. He tossed the napkin that he had been using to dab at his wounds into the garbage.

"Bella, Char, move your ass or we're gonna be late," he barked.

"But-"

"Hey! Don't you start taking your shit out on them!" I said, jumping up. I did not like the tone he had used toward the girls. "Go get yourself under control first and then you can leave."

Emmett stared at me for a moment before turning and storming out of the kitchen.

"Jasper, I really think that you should go see Carlisle today," Bella said.

"Babe, I'm okay. Plus I've got a million things to do today."

"I'm sorry about your knee Jasper," Rose said, wiping the tears out of her eyes. She threw her arms around my neck, mumbling apologies for my knee and the way she had behaved.

I briefly patted her back. "It's okay Rosie. Go clean your face; you can make it up to me later today."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm gonna need some help with a little investigative work."

"You want me to go with you? Are you sure?"

"You should go Rose," Bella urged. "You've finished that sculpture for the Breast Cancer Society and you haven't started a new project yet."

"Yeah Rose, get out of the house for a little while," Char agreed.

She nodded and gave us a small smile. "Okay, just let me go find something to wear that I can still fit into."

Bella turned to me and kissed me breathless.

"What was that for?"

"She hasn't left this house in two weeks. Thank you for caring about her."

I pulled her into my lap and nuzzled her neck. "I can think of a way for you to thank me later."

"Just one way?" She asked, her hands running under the hem of my sweater.

I slid one hand under her skirt and started up her thigh. "I think I'm liking this skirt after all." I kissed her exposed collar bones, working my way down. "Maybe I'll stop by the office later for a little afternoon delight," I whispered in her ear.

Bella squealed as I tickled her inner thigh.

We broke apart at the sound of a throat being cleared.

"Excuse me," Peter said, frown on his face. "We _are_ still standing here."

Peter and Char were looking down on us in mock disgust, smirks on their faces. I discreetly slipped my hand out from under her skirt and eased her off my lap. "I'll call you later babe. Love ya."

I kissed her and left to go finish getting ready, breakfast forgotten.

Ever since Edward kicked me, I had been limping around, refusing medical treatment and saying that I was alright, but I wasn't. Something was really wrong with my knee but I didn't want Bella to know; she would worry and there was already enough on her plate to have to deal with.

"I think we need to stop by and pick you up a cane or something," Rose said, as I passed her in the hallway. "Or maybe just admit you to the nearest old folks home."

"You ready to go?" I asked, ignoring her so called attempt at joking.

She looked down at the black track suite and black and grey Adidas that she was wearing. "Yeah, I think I need to buy a few more of these though, they're great at hiding my new fat rolls." She slapped her ass and then shook it in the full length mirror at the end of the hallway.

I hated to see her this way; this was not the confident, sexy, fiercely independent and often times tactless Rosie that I knew. This was a shell of the person we loved and I didn't want her putting herself down any longer. And to tell the truth, I thought the little bit of weight that she had gained looked good on her; she was way too skinny before.

"Rosie." I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her to face the mirror. I stared in her eyes through the reflection. "You are an amazingly beautiful woman who is not defined by any man. I am in awe of the fact that you exude more creativity through one little finger than most people do in their entire body. You are smart, fun to be around and if Em can't see that, then fuck him. Maybe this new guy will, because Em sure as hell doesn't deserve your beauty, brains and overall greatness. Not to mention, your new and improved fabulous ass."

She took a deep breath, drying the tears that formed in the corner of her eyes and stood up a little taller, throwing her shoulders back with a new firm resolve. "Damn, you're good. No wonder Bella wants to suck your dick all the time."

* * *

"Let's go already Rosie!"

I was starting to doubt my grand plan of inviting Rose to go along with me. This was the fourth time in two hours that she had threatened me into stopping to pee. I say threaten, because any time someone promises to saw your balls off with a rusty blade if you don't acquiesce, it's a threat.

"We've only gotten two addresses crossed off," I said angrily. We were checking out the addresses on the license plate list that Detective Newton had provided of late model, four door Buick sedans. "At this rate we'll be into next week before we find anything."

"Keep your shorts on lover boy. I don't know why you think we're gonna find something anyway."

I looked at her out the corner of my eye. "This fucker is bound to screw up at some point Rosie, and I just wanna make sure we're one step ahead of him when he strikes again."

"But nothing this dude does is related to the other thing. He sends death threats through poetry, he possibly shoots at Bella after the charity function, he calls and lets us know he's watching us and he runs you guys off the road. Don't stalkers usually operate on some sort of pattern?

I thought for a minute before answering. "Regular, hiding-in-the-bushes stalkers, yes. But this person has gone way beyond just stalking. This guy wants Bella dead."

"And we have no idea why, other than because he potentially wants her research."

"Exactly."

"I wonder what makes him think that he can get it even if he is successful in killing her?"

A shudder ran down my spine at Rosie's words, but she had made a good point. "That's a good question Rose. Even if he killed…even if something happened to Bella, her research leaves with her."

"Unless this jerk off is familiar with her work already and just needs a boost in completing it."

I thought about that for a moment. "But she's already listed everyone who may know even a smidgen of information about her research. Peter has been over and over the list and can't find anything."

"You know, the bad part about it is, the answer is probably right under our noses. We've probably even been chummy with this fucker and he thinks that he's got us right where he wants us."

I hated to think that someone I knew, or someone Bella knew, wanted her dead. There wasn't a contemptible bone in her body. She was always putting someone else's needs ahead of her own and doing things for the common good. I had never seen or heard of Bella purposely hurting anyone, and for someone to set out to hurt a person so pure of heart made me angry.

My phone rang and when I looked at the caller ID, I sent the call to voicemail. I didn't have time or the energy to talk to Alice. She had been calling me for the last two weeks, but my focus had been on healing Bella and gathering as much information I could about her stalker. Talking to Alice would only drain my brain power.

"Don't send it to voicemail on my account," Rose said, smirking.

I parked about a half a block away from where Bella and I had been the night of the play. "Believe me that was not for your benefit."

"What are we doing here?"

We got out of the car and walked toward where I remembered parking my car that night. "I want to see what angle these were taken from." I handed her copies of the photos from the newspaper articles. "Don't artists usually know something about all types of art?"

"So that's the real reason you wanted me to tag along? Free information?"

"Well it sure ain't because you're a great conversationalist," I joked.

Rosie shot me the bird before studying each photo, comparing them to where we were standing. "There," she pointed to one of the smaller, twenty story sky scrapers. "I think it's that building. But what now, we can't just waltz in and demand an investigation of every office that faces the theater? If even someone did let us up there, it would take forever to determine which office it actually was."

She was right; the tall skyscrapers in New York hid some of the most inconspicuous businesses inside of them. I pulled Rose out of the main walk way of the sidewalk. It was almost lunch time and the streets were beginning to get crowded with businessmen and women alighting from the buildings.

"Are you sure about that building?"

She nodded and pointed out the angles again. "Look at this one. High vantage points help organize complex scenes. In this case, the scene is not very complex because you guys are the focal point, so it's just focused on you guys; there's not much else in the shot but that café sign over there.

"Whoever took these had a purpose and it was solely to catch you off guard and that's why it was taken from above. A normal member of the paparazzi would have just taken the picture from street level because he knows that you would have instantly tried to avoid him. And the more you try to hide what's going on, the more money he would have made and the bigger the story would have been. Ever notice how many pictures end up on the Internet of celebrities trying to hide something they're doing from the camera?"

"So the motive wasn't to amp his skills as being a go-to-celebrity-gossip-photographer…"

"…but it was to expose you guys. This was personal," she finished my thought and statement.

We stared at each other for a moment, letting the words sink in. I ordered two hot dogs from a street vendor and paid for them.

"But who is this personal for other than Edward?" she asked.

"And he's not going to voluntarily publish the fact that his "relationship" didn't work out." I handed her one of the dogs and squirted ketchup on it for her.

"So then it's someone trying to embarrass her, or you."

That stopped me in my tracks. I had never thought that perhaps it was me that the stalker really wanted. "But-"

"Who would want you dead?" Rose asked, around a mouth full of hotdog. "Or more importantly, who would try to kill Bella to get to you?"

"But that doesn't add up because this fucker wanted her way before I even got involved." We sat down on a low retaining concrete wall in front of a large building to finish eating.

"True." She shrugged, taking a sip of her Dr. Pepper. "I'm out of ideas then."

"What about Em? Surly he's got some disgruntled business associates that may want to seek revenge on him by getting at Bella."

"The only person that wants to seek revenge on him, is me. I wouldn't mind gutting him like the pig he is. Or shoving his balls down-"

"Okay Rosie, chill out. Breathe and focus."

"Sorry, I get a little carried away sometimes."

I decided to change subjects to get her mind off of Em. "What type of camera can get shots that take pictures this close up?" I asked.

"With a standard DSLR camera, the degree of closeness is almost unlimited. A macro lens or a zoom with a macro feature can be added for better quality though. "

I took out a pen and wrote down the address of the building on the back of one of the photos.

"So what are you planning to do?"

I tucked the pen behind my ear and we started back toward my car. "Ben can get a listing of all known offices in the building. We'll take the leasee information and cross reference it with anyone that may be on Bella's list."

"And it's possible that some of those companies may be into some type of scientific research."

"Exactly. You know, you're a pretty good sleuth," I said, taking her elbow as we crossed the street. New York City cab drivers were ruthless, and if you didn't get all the way across the street by the time the little digital man stopped walking, then you ran the risk of losing whatever body part was still in the street.

"Thanks. You should hire me."

I laughed. "Uhh, no way."

"I'm serious-"

"Jasper! Jasper!"

We had barely made it across the street before we heard my name being called. I knew the sound of that voice and I was none too happy to hear it. Alice was running toward us on the same side of the street that we had just crossed over to.

"Who's the little freak?" Rose whispered to me as Alice approached us.

I sighed in frustration, wondering how in the world she was able to find _me_ in the middle of a city of ten million plus people. I didn't have the time or patience to deal with Alice right now.

"Hey Alice. What are you doing here?"

Instead of greeting me like a normal person with a handshake or even a hug, Alice tackled me with her lips. Remembering Bella's warning to rip my lips off if I kissed another woman; I dodged her puckered lips and held her at arm's length.

"Hello, I am the choreographer for _Wicked_, that's playing right over there." She pointed at the theater. "I've been calling you for two weeks now. Why haven't you answered or returned my calls?" She demanded.

"Alice, I've been working."

"You're too busy to talk to your girlfriend."

"Ex. Ex-girlfriend Alice." I corrected her quickly, not liking the daggers Rose was throwing my way. Suddenly, images of JW being cut off with a rusty knife and being shoved down my throat flooded my head. Instinctively, I checked to make sure he was still there before turning back to Rose. "Rose, this is Alice, my _ex_-girlfriend." I made sure to emphasize the _ex _again. "What did you need Alice?"

"We need to talk Jasper."

"About what Alice?"

"About us," she said, tapping her foot impatiently.

I sighed and fought the urge to roll my eyes. I pulled her to the side, not wanting to have this conversation on a busy sidewalk. "There is no _us_ Alice, and there hasn't been for quite a while."

"But Jasper-"

"Alice, this is not the time or place to be discussing this." I was holding onto my temper by a thread. "I'm working and I don't have the time right now."

"Fine. But make time Jasper, because it's important. I'll give you one week to call me before I come looking for you. Nice meeting you." She said to Rose before bouncing off again.

"You use to date _that_?" Rose asked, staring at Alice as she crossed the street and disappeared inside of a café.

"It was a long time ago."

"So what's the story behind the Monchhichi*?"

I suddenly realized that Bella and I had not yet had that discussion. "I can't say."

"Why the hell not?"

"I haven't even told Bella yet. She needs to know first before you start making jokes about it."

"Bella doesn't know that you use to boink a small monkey-like creature?" She laughed. "You know, I had a feeling you were a freak, but that's just gross. Have you been tested for the Money Pox?"

"Shut up Rosie. Alice wasn't that bad."

"Okay, sure." She grinned at me and then started humming the tune to the Bloodhound Gang's The Bad Touch. "'You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals/So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel.'"

"Very funny Rose."

"Did you ever see that video? A bunch of guys dressed like monkeys running all over Paris. Somehow, I think it fits her." I closed her car door and went around getting in on the driver's side. "Where are we going now?"

I sighed, not thrilled with our next destination. "I need to see the maintenance closet."

Rose stiffened in her seat as I pulled out into traffic. "Why?"

Honestly, I didn't know why I needed to see it other than it was something I felt that I needed to do. I knew that there would not be any evidence or any real clues there, but some part of me felt that if I could see Bella's living tomb, then it would help me find her stalker.

"I don't know; it's just something I gotta do. You can wait in the car if you don't want to see it."

She let out a breath she had been holding. "You're gonna need me to go with you."

I had called Felix the day before and set up a time to meet him in the parking garage on the eighth floor. We had previously met several times before to discuss security logistics and such, but I had never requested to see the actual closet until now.

He was waiting for us by the elevator bay, pacing and checking his watch, as I parked in one of the McCarty Enterprises reserved visitors spaces.

"Ms. Hale, Mr. Whitlock. Thank you for being on time. I'm sorry to say that I'm needed in a meeting in about ten minutes so I will not be able to accompany you." He handed me the keys. "You can return the keys to my assistant Harry Clearwater when you finish. I believe you know the way Ms. Hale."

She nodded.

"Thank you Felix, we won't be but just a few minutes."

Rose and I made our way over to the closed metal door. We simultaneously took a deep breath as I turned the key in the lock.

"Wait Jasper." Rose stopped me before I opened the door. "You need to remember that she's okay."

"I know that Rose."

"No, you don't Jasper. It's just…I mean…you didn't see her come out of there, and well…" she sighed, "it'll help you to get through it, if you remember that she's alive."

I didn't understand what Rose was to tell me, but I just nodded anyway and pulled the door open.

If there was such a place as hell, then surely it was where we were standing. The room was dark and there was a musty decaying smell to it. Flipping the dim light switch seemed to turn on more than just the lights. I saw Bella lying there, bound and gagged, beaten and bloody with insects crawling on her and the dead rats that she had somehow managed to kick out and kill lying by her feet. The engines turned on and a putrid smell filled the already rancid air. Rose stepped back out of the room, but I stood there staring at the floor where I imagined Bella to be.

My heart and mind filled with so much rage that I could feel it pouring out of my body through my pores. My entire body shook with hatred. How could one human do this to another?

I turned and punched the metal door. The release of rage made me feel somewhat better, so I began pounding both fists into the door, not caring that my knuckles were now torn and bloody. I felt hands pulling on me and I stumbled out of the room, fell to my knees onto the sidewalk, and puked my guts out.

"It's okay Jasper." Rose murmured in my ear as she held me and rocked me while I cried. "She's alive, she's alive, remember?"

"But…but…how…"

"It's okay, I know. Just let it out."

I stayed that way for a few minutes before sitting up. I scrubbed my face with my hands. "I need to see her."

"She's in the board meeting, remember? Plus, you can't go in there smelling like this." She sniffed my sweater. "You smell like the inside of that closet; Bella will know right away where you've been and she'll freak out." She sniffed her own clothes. "God, I smell like it too."

"Will you go to TriBeCa with me? I've got more clothes at my loft."

She wiped away her tears. "Yeah, I'll need to stop by my apartment and change too. Plus, I gotta pee again."

I rolled my eyes and laughed at her.

* * *

I sat down on my sofa beside Rose, running a towel through my wet hair. I ignored the pain in my hands; compared to what Bella had been through it was small and insignificant. "So tell me, what happened after she was pulled out of that closet?"

Rose dropped the magazine down on the coffee table and turned to me. "What do you want to know exactly?"

"She was in that shit hole for five days, without food or water and it sounded like she was going in and out of consciousness. From what I remember from biology class and basic first aid, typically, renal failure starts to develop after three days without water and it's possible that she could have even slipped into a coma. I know that she's physically fit, but it seems like she should have been in the hospital for weeks or months, not days.

"Shouldn't she have had pressure sores from lying on cold concrete for so long? Then what about her arms? They would have been practically useless for days after being released from being bound behind her back like that. She doesn't even have ongoing health problems, and besides the nightmares and mental trauma, she's in great health. She should have scars from the rat bites and possibly some sort of weird funky disease from being bitten by the little fuckers. But she doesn't have any of that. Why? What am I missing?"

"I can't answer some of that with a logical, scientific explanation Jasper, because it makes no sense to me either. When they found her, she was severely dehydrated and mumbling incoherently. She did have pressure sores, but I think because she did a lot of moving around trying to free herself, they weren't as bad as they could have been.

"As for her arms, it took about a week for her to start making small movements with them, we had to literally pick them up and lay them beside her. But the physical therapist that Em brought in helped tremendously after that. She had three bruised ribs and one broken rib. They had to do surgery to remove the broken pieces of that rib; I'm sure you've seen the tiny scar on her side from that, but probably thought it was a birthmark or something?

I nodded. "Yeah, I never mentioned it to her because that's exactly what I thought it was."

"I don't think the rats actually bit her though, because the doctors didn't find any bite marks on her. Em and I think she dreamed that part, and we never corrected her on it. But she did have tons of insect and flea bites.

"She had a little bit of minor plastic surgery to fix some on the scars on her face, but the rest of them faded with the help of some uber expensive skin creams I found in Europe. That shit worked miracles. She has minor vision impairment in her right eye, but she refuses to have laser surgery to correct it; that's why she wears the glasses when she's tired or in the lab.

"She was in the hospital for about fifteen days before she threatened to walk out-limp out- so Em brought her home and hired a full time nurse, plus Edward's mom and Esme were there almost around the clock for the first month as well."

"It's almost like she's got super powers or something."

"She does, it's called being one bad ass bitch."

"How did you guys handle all of this?"

"Em was a mess, hell,_ I_ was a mess. He didn't sleep or eat almost the entire five days. At one point I made Carlisle give me some meds to slip in his soda so that he would at least sleep. And at least we _had _each other; that helped."

That was the second time since their "relationship" fell apart that Rose emphasized _had_ when talking about their status as a couple. I draped my arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "He loves you Rose."

She shook her head. "I think it may be too late for us."

"No, listen to me. Em loves you, and just like Bella, he doesn't know how to express it. He's scared and when he's emotional he screws up his words a lot. You _know_ this. Give him another chance."

"Did you hear what he said to me about my weight?"

"Yes, and it was fucked up. And at the same time you're throwing this Calvin Klein model at him. Is he even real?"

She nodded. "Yeah, he's been calling me for weeks now, but I kept putting him off because I've been holding on to Emmett for so long. Maybe I need to have other experiences."

"If that's what you choose, then don't do it just to spite Emmett or to make him jealous. Do it because it's right for you."

"I love him Jazz, but how can I be sure that he loves me?" She cried.

"Talk to him Rose and listen to his heart. Tell him how you really feel."

"I –I don't know if I can do that. I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"No one said you had to do it right away. Take your time to sort things out. Sometimes love is more of a decision than an emotion, and it shouldn't be swept under a rug or jumped into head first without considering it from every angle." My phone beeped with a new text message and I looked down at the screen.

**GET HERE. NOW! - -Ben**

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**A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to all my readers, to those who submitted reviews, gave me suggestions, put me on alert and added me to your favorites. I heart you all hard! If you're waiting to review once this is finished, please do so now! It encourages me to keep going. And I will keep going-there's too many loose ends to tie up to stop now. And plus, this is so fun to write!**

**Thanks to: JxBAddicted, Twisted-Twilighter, Bell1, and SmuttierThanYou-you guys gave me so many great ideas to work into this fic. Keep 'em coming, 'cause I need more!**

****The movie Eclipse was AWESOME!****


	20. Chapter 20

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 20**

**Thanks Cullen818 and JamesRamsey - master betas of the Twi universe!**

**I'm on vacation in Orlando right now, but because I love you guys so much, I didn't want to wait until I got back home to post this chapter.**

**SM owns it!**

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****BPOV**

"Hey Bells?"

I looked up from the notes I was going over to see Emmett standing in my doorway. "What's up Em?" I asked, tucking the notebook into my workbag.

"Can we talk for a second?"

"The meeting's gonna start in a little while."

"I know, but this is really important." He came in and sat down in the chair in front of my desk. "I need your help to get Rosie back."

I stared at him like he had two heads. "What?"

He sighed, "I love her."

"For two weeks you two have been screaming at each other, taunting one another and slamming doors in each other's face. She's tried to stab you twice and you cut the straps on her new Prada bag. Now, all of a sudden you want her back?"

He rested his elbows on the corner of my desk and looked at me like a little lost puppy, running his hands through his hair. My heart ached for him.

"It was never supposed to be like this Bella. I love her and I was gonna ask her to marry me when I got back from Japan. But then all of that mess happened with you and Jasper, and well…. What do I do now? How do I fix this?"

"Aww Em, you're breakin' my heart."

"Help me Bells. She won't talk to me; she won't listen to anything I have to say. I've tried so many times to talk to her, but I keep saying or doing the wrong thing."

"What was the last thing you said to her?"

"Besides this morning? I can't even remember now, but I've got the old scars added with the new to prove how awful it must have been." He pushed the hair back off of his forehead and showed me a tiny half inch scar. "What does it matter anyway, she hates me?"

"Well this," I touched the almost healed pick scar and he winced a little, "I'm sure you earned for being stupid. Just like the ones you earned this morning. She doesn't hate you Em, but for the last four years you've treated her like an afterthought. Do you really think you could win her over with a few words?"

"I've never treated her like an afterthought!"

I looked at him with an '_oh really'_ expression on my face until he dropped his head again and sighed.

"Okay, okay. I should have handled this better four years ago, but I didn't. I'm an ass and I don't deserve her. So what do I do to fix it?"

"Have you told her just that?"

"No, not exactly." He scrubbed his eyes with his fists. "She won't even listen to me though!" He protested, banging his hand on the desk.

"Do you really blame her Em? You guys have never even once acted like you love each other-at least, not that I've seen. You weren't really even nice to each other before all of this mess."

"I know, I know. But that's what worked for us-or so I thought. You know how Rosie is; she's all tough acting and hard core, making jokes and saying whatever, whenever. So we never really talked about a relationship. I know we should have, but it was just easier being with her and not talking about it."

I thought for a minute. "You want me to help you; then you gotta do something for me."

"Anything, just name it."

"Stop being so hard on Jasper. Stop getting in our way and stop acting like I've replaced you for him. I love him Em, and I'm not going to stop."

He sighed again and laid his head down on the desk. My thirty–five year old brother who ate multi-billion dollar corporations for breakfast was reduced to looking lost and helpless. "I just don't want to lose you too."

I came around the desk and sat beside him in the other chair. "You're not going to lose me Em, but you have to accept the fact that I'm with Jasper now. How would you feel if I were against you and Rosie?"

"But that's different."

"How?"

He thought for a moment. "It just is."

"I love you Em. No matter what stupid things you say and do, I'll always love you. Jasper's not taking your place in my heart. He's helping me to heal and he makes me a better woman. Can't you see that?"

"But-"

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Really Em?"

He closed his eyes. "Okay, okay. I won't interfere anymore."

I kissed his forehead and ran my hand up and down his back. "Good. So we'll figure this out, okay? But you're gonna have to do a lot of wooing and maybe even some groveling to get her back. "

"I'll do whatever it takes."

"Hey guys," Char said, sticking her head around the partially open door. "It's time to start."

Emmett wrapped his arms around me in a bone crushing hug. "Bells, you and Rose are the most important people in my life. You know that, right?"

"I know, and we'll make sure that Rose knows too."

xxxxxx

"Here Bells," Char said, handing me a package as we came out of the board meeting. "I think this is the replacement part for one of your microscopes that you ordered last week."

I perched my notebook and laptop on the edge of her desk as I attempted to tear open a corner of the small box. "Oh great, I've been waiting on that. Do I have any messages?"

She handed me a stack of messages. "These are from reporters wanting to do a story about you and Jasper." She handed me another stack. "And these are from your editor, the head of the Engineering department at M.I.T and the last four are from different department heads at B.P Oil. Since the spill earlier this year, it seems like they've been calling every day now."

"Okay, so throw these out." I gave her back the stack of messages from the reporters. "And I'll get to these at some point during the day." I punched the intercom on Char's desk. "Hey James, that part for the microscope is here. I'm gonna leave it on Char's desk for you." I said, as I picked at the tape on the package.

"Great. I'm glad it came today. We're doing that new experiment in about an hour if you want to come down for it."

I checked my watch, noting that I had about fifteen minutes before my appointment with Dr. Dwyer. "Yeah, I should be able to make it down by then. Make sure to set up the video camera just in case I can't make it though." Char, seeing that I was not succeeding in tearing the tape, handed me a pair of scissors.

For my first few sessions with Dr. Dwyer, I decided not to tell anyone about my decision to go into therapy; simply because I didn't want them making a fuss to me about it. It was easy to keep secret because, since Em had technically fired Jasper and hired Ben in his place, I knew that Ben was not going to question me. The doctor's office was on the twenty-fifth floor of McCarty Enterprises and all I told Ben was that I was visiting an old friend of the family, and he would wait outside of the office for me.

"Sure thing," James said.

"Oh, and…" I felt the bile rising in my throat and took a step back.

"Bella? Bella, what's wrong?" Char demanded.

I pointed at the package, turned and threw up in the garbage can beside Char's desk. She grabbed the small box and peered inside.

"Ohmigod! Ohmigod!"

"Where did this come from?" I demanded, wiping my mouth with a Kleenex.

The dead rat was obviously a message from my stalker. Whoever it was wanted me to remember the time I spent locked in that closet; and it was working. All I could see were the rats and all I could smell was that God awful stench. My stomach churned with the smell.

"Hello? Bella? What's going on?" James demanded through the intercom.

"The FedEx guy brought it," Char said, pressing a bottle of water into my hands.

"There's no FedEx label on it," I observed.

"Well I don't know!" Char said, wringing her hands. "The guy had a FedEx shirt on and he asked me to sign his clipboard for it. It all looked legit. I was on the phone and told him to just put it on top of my filing cabinet over there. He did and then left."

"How long ago?"

"He got on the elevator just a _second_ before you came out of the meeting!"

"Hello? Bella what is going on?" James demanded again. "I'm coming up there!"

I quickly glanced at the clock above Char's desk. It had only been about four minutes since the meeting had adjourned. It was one o'clock and the end of the regular lunch time. People were coming back to work, which meant that taking the elevator from the bottom floor and going up, would take twice as long, as it had to stop on various floors in its ascent.

I reacted really before thinking about it. "Char, call Ben. I'm going to find this fucker!"

The express service elevator would take me directly to the lobby floor without stopping in just under a minute. I could intercept the delivery man there.

"Bella wait!" James screamed.

"Call Ben, James!" Char yelled out at the intercom, running after me. "I'm going with you Bella!"

"So what's the plan?" Char asked, bouncing on her toes in anticipation as we shot downward in the service elevator to the lobby.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I haven't really thought that far ahead."

"Jasper and Peter are gonna kill us."

We looked at each other and suddenly the prospect of facing a crazed stalker/killer as opposed to mad, overprotective boyfriends in war mode, seemed more appealing. Jasper would surly skin me alive if, when, he found me out chasing the bad guy and not being dutifully submissive like he asked me to be. And Peter would be no better with Char.

"But really, how mad can they be when we catch this guy?" I asked, hopeful.

Char quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Okay, so that means we really have to catch him, or it's our asses."

"I think it's gonna be our asses regardless," Char said. "But at least we'll have this last bit of freedom before they lock us in our rooms," she joked.

"Okay, when we get to the lobby, you go to the left and I'll go around to the right. We'll meet at the front doors, but if you run into him, grab on to him and start screaming."

"_That's_ your plan?"

"You got a better idea?"

She thought for a minute. "Okay, so I'm going to the right, right?"

I shook my head. "No, go LEFT."

"Why can't I go to the right?"

"What difference does it make?"

"I'm a righty."

"So am I."

"I want to go to the right."

I rolled my eyes. "I can't believe we're having this conversation. Fine, go right!"

"What if we don't see him?"

"Then you go back upstairs and wait for Ben. I'm gonna go up and down the block to see if I can spot him."

"Oh no, I'm going with you. We're in this together," she said with a firm stance.

I nodded. "Okay, then we'll both go out onto the street and see if we can find him."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Char took off the left and we collided into each other.

"Go RIGHT!" I yelleded, laughing at her.

"Sorry, I forgot!"

The lobby was crowded and I had to stop often to stand on my toes in order to see above the throng of people. I searched every nook and cranny, looking for the telltale blue, purple, and orange FedEx shirt. Char and I met up twice at the front doors, both coming up empty handed.

"So now what?" Char asked, looking defeated.

"I was sure we had made it down here in enough time." I looked around the lobby once more, but saw nothing of importance. The press of the crowd was starting to freak me out. "Let's go out and go north for a block or two."

"Bella!" Char grabbed my arm with one hand and pointed toward the elevator with the other. "There he is!"

She pointed at a tall, pale man with long ruddy red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He walked with a slight limp and kept his head down, baseball cap pulled low. "Are you sure? He's not wearing a FedEx shirt."

"He must have taken the shirt off, but I _know_ that's him."

"Okay, so let's follow him."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. I'm making this up as we go!"

She hooked her arm through mine as we followed the man out onto the street. The sun was shining but the cold air coming around the tall buildings was enough to chill us to the bone. Neither of us had thought to grab a coat before getting on the service elevator.

"It's so cold out here," Char whispered.

I was starting to doubt my grand plan to follow this man. Even with us following him, there was only so far that we could go before it became really dangerous. What would we do if we finally caught up with him? Stop him and demand to know who he was working for? It wasn't like we had the means to force information out of him.

"Maybe we should go back and just call Jasper," I said, trying not to shake with the cold.

"But we'll lose him, and then what? We don't have enough information to give Jasper so that he could find him. He's right there; let's just follow him a little further."

"That's true, and this could be the beginning of the end of all of this mess."

The idea of being able to walk down the street without fear of being attacked ran through my mind. Rose, Char and I could go shopping and to the movies without dragging one of the guys along behind us, whining and complaining. And I could go jogging in the mornings without pulling Jasper out of bed. This man was possibly the answer to our problems.

Char and I stayed at the safest distance possible for about two blocks. He wasn't in a hurry and because he passed an entrance to the subway, he didn't seem to have a destination in mind. The crowd thinned out the father we got away from McCarty Enterprises. My phone in my pocket vibrated but I didn't want to answer it and run the risk of him hearing us behind him.

"Okay, so we need a new plan," I said, nearing the fourth block. I didn't want to get too far away from the safety of the building.

"I agree."

"Well I don't," Ben said behind us. He clamped a hand on each of our shoulders to restrain us.

Char and I jumped about a foot and it felt like my heart stopped beating for a second.

"God Ben, you scared the hell out of us," I said, clutching my chest.

"Good, now get back to the building," he said, angrily.

"We can't, that's the guy that delivered the package," Char said. "We can't let him get away."

"He might be the key to end all of this," I said.

"Are you trying to get me killed, because who do you think Jasper's going to hold responsible for your Nancy Drew adventure?"

"I'll tell him it was my idea. Please, pretty please," I begged. "Look, he's _right there_." The man had stopped at the end of the block, waiting for the light to change so that he could cross the street. We were less than fifty feet from him.

"This could all be over," Char pointed out. "We just need to talk to him."

"This is not a good idea. I can't watch both of you and apprehend him at the same time."

"But you don't have to watch us, we'll be okay." I was practically hopping up and down now, itching to get at the guy.

"All you have to do is to pull him into the alley over there and shove your gun in his face," Char said.

"Yeah, and he'll sing like a bird."

"Oh, is that _all_ I have to do?" Ben asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"C'mon, the lights gonna change at any second," I said, pulling on his arm.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this," he mumbled under his breath. He sighed. "Fine, stay behind me and if he starts to fight, get the hell out of the way and go back to McCarty Enterprises. Got it?"

We both nodded eagerly.

The light changed and we quickly caught up to the man, staying about ten feet behind him. The block ended at a smaller, less congested intersection and Ben gave the signal for us to stay far behind him. He then pulled his gun out from under his jacket and advanced on the man, grabbing his elbow and sticking the gun in his side as he whispered to him.

Startled, then man resisted at first and then apparently felt the nose of the gun pressing into his back. He stopped resisting and allowed Ben to guide him into the small alley way.

Ben forced him against the wall of the building, patting him down to make sure that he had no weapon before turning him around to face us. The hat was still pulled down low over his eyes and from where Char and were standing, we could not see his face.

"You delivered the package," Ben said. "Who are you working for?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Let's rethink that answer." Ben pointed the gun against his temple. "Tell me who you're working for."

"I'm not working for anyone!" He said, in a panic.

"Liar!" Char screamed, stepping forward to hit him.

"Char!" I grabbed her arm, pulling her back. Ben had the man securely pinned against the wall and didn't need our help in questioning him. I knew that we were going to be in enough trouble as it were without adding more items to our growing list of transgressions.

"I didn't do nuthin'! Please, just let me go," he begged.

My body went numb at his words, more specifically the sound of his voice saying the words. Not only was it was the same set of words that I had used in begging for my life before being thrown in the maintenance closet, but it almost perfectly mirrored what he had said to his partner that night. Four little words, '_just let her go'_.

I took a step back, feeling a prickly sensation all over, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. "Y-you! It -it was y-you." I panicked and my first instinct was to flee; I turned to run.

"Bella!" Char grabbed my arm. "What the hell is going on?"

I tried fighting her off. "He's the one!"

"The 'one' who?"

"The tall guy, the one who put me in that closet!"

"What? No!" He protested.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked, shoving the guy against the wall again.

I was fighting Char's hold on me, still trying to run. Everything about me was telling me to get the hell out of that alley. "YES! It's him. I know that voice anywhere! Let me go Char!" I screamed.

"God, I'm so sorry Bella. Please, I didn't want to do it," he cried.

I stopped again. "Riley?"

**JPOV**

"What's going on?" Rose asked, as we sped through traffic.

"I don't know. Bella won't answer her phone and neither will Ben."

"What about Peter?"

"His flight left early this morning, remember?"

Peter had flown out, bound for Texas earlier this morning. He was going to testify in a case against a stalker that he helped catch while on assignment in Dallas and would be back late the next night.

"Em's not answering either. But it could be just because he sees my number on caller ID," Rose said.

I cursed at the red light, but went through it anyway, nearly colliding with a yellow taxi cab.

"Office phone?" she asked.

"It goes straight to voice mail," I said, making a split second decision to change lanes. "Look, take my phone and look for the GPS application." I passed my iPhone to her. "After Edward kidnapped Bella I put a tracking device in her phone. It's detailed enough that it'll even tell me what floor of the building she's on."

"I found it! It says that she's on the thirty second floor."

"What the hell could be going on then?" I wondered out loud.

"Just hurry."

"Look, I need you to take the car, okay?" I slammed on the brakes and came to a stop right outside of McCarty Enterprises. "Don't come up unless I call you and if you don't hear from me in ten minutes, drive yourself to Whitlock headquarters. Tell my secretary Sue what's going on and for her to dispatch Paul over here immediately. Got it?"

"Yes, just go!"

I ran into the building looking for a member of the security team but found no one. The fact that there wasn't even a guard manning the front desk scared me. That desk was to be manned at all times, no exception. I took the express service elevator up to the thirty second floor where Bella's office and the board room was, hand under my jacket on the butt of my forty-five.

I didn't want to go walking through the office with a drawn gun and scare some poor unsuspecting intern half to death. There were no employees anywhere and the floor was unusually quiet, it was almost like everyone had jumped ship all of a sudden.

I peeked around the corners as I went down the hallways toward the main elevator bank, peering over each cubicle wall. Bella's office and boardroom was less than fifty feet from the elevators and as I neared them I heard what sounded like Char's shrill, ear piercing threats coming from Bella's office.

"Just tell us what we want to know!"

"I-I don't k-know anything!"

"Liar!"

"Errgh! Quit hitting me!"

"You bastard!"

"Char, just stop it," Ben said. "We need to wait for Jasper."

"You need to wait for me to do what?" I asked, partially pushing the door open. Ben was perched on the edge of the sofa, gun pointed at a man, tied to a chair. Char was standing over the man and apparently hitting him against his head with the back of a stapler. A _stapler_? "What the hell is going on? And where is Bella?"

"Jasper?"

I heard her voice, but at first didn't see her. I pushed the door open wider to see Bella huddled in a corner and holding onto James, shaking with fear. I wasn't at all keen on seeing him touching her.

I crossed the room and pulled her into my arms. James immediately stepped back and she clung to me, as if trying to claw her way inside of me. "I'm here, I'm here baby." I whispered in her ear, shooting daggers at James. "Ben, you've got five seconds to start telling me what the hell is going on around here."

It was Char that spoke up. "Mr. Riley here is one of the men that locked Bella in that maintenance closet."

"What?" I think my heart literally stopped beating in my chest, and had Bella not been clinging to me I would have pulled my gun and shot him on the spot, no questions asked.

"Please don't kill me," Riley begged.

"Shut up," Char ordered, hitting him again.

"Someone start explaining."

"Mr. Fake FedEx delivered a package for Bella. We thought it was the replacement part for her microscope but it was really a dead rat with a note attached to it." Char said.

"A dead rat?" I asked, looking down at Bella. She had her eyes closed as if trying to block out the image. I could only imagine what was going through her head. Her arms tighten around me and I pulled her closer. "What did it say?"

"It was a question, _'Remember me_?'" Ben said. "And it was written in blood."

"What the fuck? Blood?"

He nodded.

"So how did he get to be here?" I asked, indicating Riley. Char took a deep breath and moved away from her prisoner. Bella stiffened and Ben looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. "Someone answer me." Something was going on that they were not saying and it was starting to irritate me.

"We kinda apprehended him out on the street," Bella said, eyes still closed.

"_We_ who?" I asked, already dreading the answer.

Bella slightly pulled away from me, but held onto my shoulders. "Okay, promise not to get mad?"

If she had to preface her explanation with a plea for me not to get mad, then whatever had happened was not going to be good. "It's too late for that. Start talking."

"When I tore open the package and saw what it was, it made me sick. I wanted to find out who had delivered it, so when Char told me that a FedEx guy dropped it off, we went after him."

I closed my eyes and breathed heavily through my nose. "Please tell me that you didn't."

She nodded. "We took the service elevator downstairs and just as we were about to give up looking for him, we spotted him going out of the building."

"So we followed him out and down the street," Char said, taking up the story. "We didn't want him to get away because we figured that he may be the key to finding the stalker."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe he _IS_ the stalker?" I asked, angrily, looking from Bella to Char and back to Bella. "Of course not! Stopping to think about the consequences would have been the responsible thing to do." My hands tightened around her arms and I shook her a little. "You _promised_ me Bella. You promised me just this morning that you wouldn't do anything stupid. Well guess what, this was a stupid idea!"

"Jasper, you're hurting me."

"They thought they were doing the right thing," Ben said.

"Calm down Jasper," James said, stepping forward. "Let her go."

I made a move towards James and if Bella hadn't still been holding onto me I would have punched him. James took a few steps back and thankfully tried his best to fade into the background. I didn't need or want his input on anything.

"We were just trying to help Jasper. Please don't be mad," Bella begged, tugging on my arms.

"You broke your promise," I said, pushing her away.

"Jasper…"

"And where were _you _while Lucy and Ethel were out chasing the bad guys?" I asked Ben.

"I was in your office when James called to tell me something was going on. I immediately went downstairs and saw them going out of the building, so I followed them."

I shook my head, looking down at Bella. "After all that has happened to you, I can't believe you would act so careless."

"We were trying to help Jasper," Char said. "Can't you see that?"

"What I see is my girlfriend completely throwing aside what I've asked her to do and completely disregarding not only her promise to me, but jeopardizing her life and someone else's."

"It wasn't like that baby," Bella said, trying to hug me. "Please, please…"

I pushed her away again. "Stop, just stop. I don't want to hear it." Bella collapsed back into her huddle in the corner, crying and holding herself. I ached to hold her, to tell her that it didn't matter, but it did. She had broken my trust, and whatever her reason was, I was not okay with that.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and paced back and forth in front of Riley. I could feel the shift occurring within me, going from Jasper Whitlock, personal security guard, to Jasper Whitlock, soldier and warrior. The last time I felt like this was during my time in the desert. It was a dark and scary time in my life, and one that I did not like to revisit. But with all that was going on, the dark side of me couldn't help but to come out.

I turned to Riley. "You're Angela's brother, right?"

He nodded.

"Who are you working for?"

"No one," he simply said.

I did not believe that Riley was the stalker, but two things were obvious. One, he knew more than what he was saying, and two, he didn't know the full story. But whatever he did know, he wasn't going to just tell me without a little persuasion.

I fingered the keys in my pocket and was struck with an idea. "Ben, take the girls home. Now."

"Where's Rose?" Char asked.

_Shit_! I had forgotten about Rose.

"Call Paul," I told Ben. "He's probably on his way here. Tell him to go back to HQ, pick up Rose and take her home. Then tell him to call me immediately. Where's Em?"

"He had a lunch meeting with Mr. Chesser from the board of directors," Char said.

I stood at the window and stared down at the street below while listening to the phone ring. "Emmett, I need you here."

"Jasper," Bella said, coming up behind me. "Please talk to me."

I felt her emotions crumbling, but at that moment the Warrior took over and he was too enraged to have to deal with her remorse and guilt. I shook her hands off of my shoulders. "Later."

"But-"

"C'mon Bells, let's just go," Char said, pulling her away.

xxxxxx

I wondered whether or not someone could hear his screams. But then I thought about Bella lying in the same position, bound and beaten and I could care less whether or not someone could hear him. I made sure to take precautions though. We only took him down to the closet after hours and had started to "persuade" him into answering our questions long after everyone had gone home for the day.

Either I had lost my touch, or Riley was tougher than I thought. It had been several intense hours and we still hadn't gotten any information out of him.

He was naked except for a pair of boxers and tied to a chair. Em and I had taken turns beating him, but because my knuckles were cut up and bruised from punching the door earlier that day, I sat by and watched Em do most of the work. I had many other methods of torture yet to try out on our prisoner.

"Riley, all you have to do is tell us what you know," I said.

"I don't remember anything," he insisted.

"Okay."

I took the pliers and ripped the third fingernail completely off. Emmett poured salt into the bloody open wound and Riley roared in pain once again. I knew that my methods of persuasion were a bit difficult for Em to handle; he had known Riley since he was a kid. But once I had reminded him that Riley was part of the reason Bella had been kidnapped for five days, he became more than a willing participant.

And what Riley had done by kidnapping Bella was a lot worse than what Edward had done. While I knew what kind of rat bastard Edward was, deep down I also knew that in his own sick and twisted way he loved Bella. He would have never left her beaten and bound in a dark closet for five days. Only a ruthless, sick motherfucker would do that. And even if Riley was not responsible for the whole situation, he knew where she was the entire time and did nothing to help her. That was the difference.

"So let's recap," Emmett said. "You disguise yourself as an out of town visitor, attack my sister and lock her in this very closet. And now months later, as someone is trying to kill her, you put on a fake FedEx shirt and deliver a box with a dead rat in it to her and you don't know why. Is that it?"

"I don't know who is trying to kill her. I swear to God! Please, let me go."

"Why? You and your friend didn't let Bella go."

"I tried to save her, but I couldn't!"

"That answer is not good enough Riley." I lit the handheld propane blowtorch and held it against the wire hanger that I had shaped into a series of small circles. I waited until the metal got red hot before holding it up for Riley to see. "Left or right?" I asked. It was only proper for me to give him a choice.

"What?"

"Left or right nut? You get a choice."

"Please, please no!"

I laughed manically at him. "You've given me nothing, yet you have the nerve to beg?"

"Okay, okay wait! I'll tell you." He gasped for air and we waited patiently for him to begin. "I needed the money, and all he said was that we needed to steal her laptop and notebook and if there was a flash drive, then we were to get that too."

"Who?" Em demanded. "Who hired you?"

"I don't know his name."

"Wrong answer." I pressed the hot metal against his right thigh. I was trying to do the humane thing and preserve his nuts until the last possible moment. "How much do you love your nuts Riley? I need a name."

He screamed and struggled against the rope we had used to tie him to the chair. "Please."

His head lulled to the side and I signaled for Emmett to revive him. Em tossed a bucket of ice water on him and at the same time the engines to the elevator turned on, bringing the cold air and stinking rotten smell of decay into the room.

"Last chance to answer me before I start branding me some balls. Give me a name."

"He never told me his name."

"You just don't learn, do you Riley?" Em asked, taking the metal hanger out of my hand and pressing it into Riley's chest.

We went on for another hour, not getting any relevant information out of Riley. Em and I secured our prisoner, making sure to gag him before leaving the closet. We both smelled of blood, burnt flesh and the rancid odor of the closet. For the second time that day I made my way back to my loft in TriBeCa for a shower and change of clothes. I loaned Em a set of clothes and while he showered and changed, ordered a pizza for us both.

"What now?" Em asked, fresh out of the shower.

I popped the top off of two beers and handed him one. "We keep him until he gives us something relevant to go on."

"I don't think he knows anything."

"I will agree that he doesn't know much. But a couple of more hours like that and he'll start remembering what he does know."

"What are you going to tell Bella?"

I took a long swallow of the beer. "Nothing. The less she or the girls know, the better. I don't want either of them feeling guilty about what we're doing. Plus, if they're ever questioned by the police, it's best if they don't know anything."

Em nodded. "I agree with that."

I looked at my watch and noted that it was close to midnight. "I think we should start back to Sound Beach."

Em slept, snoring in the passenger seat while I drove. I was too wound up to rest and so I offered to drive us home. It took longer to get to Sound Beach than normal; there was a wreck on the turnpike that had us backed up in traffic for at least an additional hour.

When we finally did get home, I crept up the stairs to the room I shared with Bella. Just as I suspected, she was asleep, but not soundly so. She tossed and turned and called out my name. It was just as hard, or really more so, being away from her emotionally as being away from her physically, but I was still so angry at her for what she and Char had done.

I had always been a big proponent of not going to bed angry. Anger kept you from sleeping anyway, so it was better to just get everything out in the open and then have a restful night sleep.

I touched her shoulder and she woke immediately.

**BPOV**

All I could see was Jasper's anger and feel the way he pushed me away. He had never looked at me with such agitation and rage before; it scared me. The fact that he wouldn't even let me explain was enough to destroy the fragile hold I had on my emotions. I couldn't feel the connection that we shared; it was almost like it had been severed by his burning ire.

On the way home Char did her best to console me, saying that Jasper was just angry at the situation and that once we talked everything would be okay. I could tell that she was trying to convince herself of the same; apparently she had gone against what Peter had asked of her as well.

It was not our intention to defy either of them, but only to help. Surly Jasper would see that once he calmed down, right?

I expected him to come home soon after we left the office, but that didn't happen. The longer I waited for him, the more I worried about the state of our relationship. Was this the straw that broke the camel's back? Was this the incident that finally made him realize that being with me was too hard and too much to have to deal with?

I paced the floor in my bedroom, rehearsing what I would say to him. I would tell him how much he meant to me and apologize, beg and grovel if needed. I didn't want to lose him, and whatever he stipulated I do, I would do willingly. I created this mess, and it was up to me to fix it.

Eventually, I fell into a restless sleep. I didn't know if you could even really call it sleep because I could hear and feel every noise around me. So when I felt a cold, yet familiar, hand on my shoulder, I woke with a start.

"Jasper!" I sat up on my knees, throwing off the bed covers and tentatively reached for him. I wasn't sure if he even wanted me touching him.

He caught my hands in his and held me at arm's length, gaze running up and down the expanse of my body. If I was going to do some groveling, then I figured the black lace see through cami and matching cheeky panties would only put points in my bucket.

"We need to talk," he said, releasing my hands and stepping back.

"I know, I'm so sorry. It was my fault –"

He held up his hand and I stopped talking immediately. Jasper paced in front of the bed, running his hand through his hair like he did when he was in deep thought. I clutched at the sheets, nervously twisting my left hand in the folds of material.

He turned to face me and even in the dim light from the bedside lamp I could see his eyes, black with animalistic fury. This was not my loving, easy going Jasper; this was a dominant, laying-down-the-law Jasper. I recognized the difference and for once I had the good sense to keep my damn mouth closed.

"Never again will you defy me like that."

I started to speak, just to agree, but snapped my jaw shut and buttoned my lips when he quirked an eyebrow at me.

He stopped pacing and came to stand in front of me, staring down in my eyes.

"I don't care what you thought your intentions were, if I ask you to do something concerning your safety, you _will not_ argue with me; you will follow, to the _letter_ what I ask you to do. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"From here on out there may be some things that I cannot tell you, and you _will not_ try to persuade, coerce, or seduce them out of me. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

He lightly touched my throat, ran a finger down the middle of my breast and then pinched one nipple. "I'm doing this my way Isabella, and I don't want to have this conversation with you again," he whispered against my ear, still holding and now twisting my nipple between his fingers. "Tell me what I need to hear."

My breath caught in my throat; my body balanced between pain and intense pleasure. "I will follow everything you ask me to do."

He kissed me roughly, a stark contrast to his usual sensual sweetness. I pulled him to me, wanting and needing to feel all of him. One hand ran down the length of my body to cup one ass cheek, yanking me under him and grinding his hips and very hard erection against me.

He released my mouth, pulling my head back to expose my throat and bit and sucked my neck. I was out of breath, not wheezing but just trying to force air into my lungs. He took my momentary loss of speech as a chance to bite my nipple, laving it through the lace with his tongue.

"Jasper," I panted. "I love you."

His eyes switched from black to whiskey topaz. "You will not put your life in danger again. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, I promise."

"I w-won't lose you Isabella," he said, voice cracking with emotion. "I…can't be gentle…baby…please tell me…you're ready…I need…you so bad…" He ripped my panties and his fingers were inside testing my arousal. "God, you're so fuckin' wet." He stood up to pull his pants and gun holster off, then paused to warn me again. "I don't…think I can be…gentle."

"It's okay baby." I reassured him, kissing his neck and running my hands over his chest. I didn't want him gentle either. I slid down to the floor on my knees, pulling his jeans and boxers down and then took him in my mouth.

"Argh Bella! No."

He pushed me onto my back and slid into me so slowly that it was almost painful with anticipation. I felt his hesitation, waiting for me to adjust to his size, and before I could raise my hips and hook my legs around his waist he was pounding into me.

The times he was like this, I never thought it was possible for him to be so deep inside of me until the next time when he always seemed to push an extra inch or so more in. His hands gripped my ass and he lifted me off of the floor to meet his thrust, going deeper even still.

This was not our normal love making. This was savage and animalistic. He was pushing me to the brink of pain, losing himself inside me. I remembered hearing two dogs locked in passion before, growling and snapping at each other with their sharp teeth. Those two dogs had nothing on us. He bit my neck and growled, driving himself deeper as my fingernail dug into the flesh of his back, drawing blood. I wanted more; I wanted him to completely lose himself and hold nothing back.

With all of the times and ways that we had made love, I knew that he had been holding back, trying not to hurt me. I had appreciated his gentleness and patience and extraordinary care, but I had also craved this animal side of him as well. He needed this and I wanted to give it to him.

I squeezed him with my muscles and he lost himself, coming apart with his orgasm. He held me until I thought my ribs were breaking as his hot fluids pumped into me and he whispered 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over in my ear.

He picked me up and carried me to the bed, stumbling slightly with his instant new arousal and the effects of the last orgasm. I thought he would come immediately inside of me again, but he left my side to wet a bath cloth in the bathroom and came back to wash me gently.

"I'm sorry," he said softly whispering against my thigh. "You didn't come too."

"It's okay," I stroked his nape.

"No, I'm a selfish bastard." He kissed my thigh. "I need you to come too."

I stroked his dick, wanting him inside me again. He pushed my hands away as his tongue found my clit. He licked, sucked and bit me until I was screaming his name and cumming in his mouth and then he continued, making me cum a second time before curling his body around me and holding me while we slept.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked it! So hit that little review link at the bottom and let me know what you're thoughts are!**


	21. Chapter 21

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 21**

**Thanks to super beta JamesRamsey for whipping this into shape! Cullen818 is on a well deserved holiday!**

**SM owns it!**

* * *

**BPOV**

"Ugh Bella! This is ridiculous, why can't I just go buy one?" Emmett said, pushing the red construction paper away from him. We were at home in his office, and with my guidance he was attempting to make a card for Rosie. Since she refused to speak to him, he needed another form of communication that didn't involve slamming doors and her trying to scratch his eyes out.

"Because _making _one leaves more of a lasting impression," I said, looking up from the presentation that I was working on. "Any idiot can go out and buy one."

"Yeah, but this is _hard_."

"Isn't she worth it?"

"Of course she is."

I pushed my glasses up on my nose and yawned, it was late and I was exhausted. "Then stop complaining. The first thing that she'll think about is the time and effort that you spent into putting it together. And while it's gonna take a hell of a lot more than a simple card to dig yourself out of this hole, this may start to put a crack in her exterior."

"But what if it doesn't?"

"Then you'll try something else," James said, coming back into the office. He had come over to help me finish the presentation for the Engineers for the Future meeting.

Emmett sighed and went back to writing, stopping every few minutes to scratch out or erase whatever he had just written. "The words are coming out right," Em complained. "Nothing I write is good enough."

"Lemme see what you've got," James said, reaching for the paper. "Maybe I can help." He thought for a moment and then pushed the paper back to Em. "You're over thinking it. You gotta remember that this is just to get you a chance to talk to her. Don't try to use a bunch of fancy words."

"So I should just say that I would like to talk to her?"

"Yeah," James said. "Look, do you have anything that reminds you of the times you spent together?"

Emmett was quiet for a moment and then pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk, producing a small box. "Alright, so don't laugh, but I did keep some stuff."

"Like what?" I asked.

He rooted around in the box and began laying out odd scraps of paper, a hair pin, ticket stubs, a dried flower, a handkerchief with a lipstick smear on it, a button, a napkin, and a host of other mementos.

"What is all of this?"

He picked up the hairpin. "Four years ago I took her to the state fair and this is the hair pin that she used to hold the hair out of her face when we rode the Ferris wheel." He picked up the dried flower and the handkerchief. "I gave her this flower the night that I took her to see Phantom of the Opera. She wore it behind her ear, and when I took her home she kissed me for the first time. I wiped the lipstick off with the hanky."

"Aww Em, that's so sweet. I can't believe you kept all of this stuff."

"What's the button for?" James asked.

I didn't think it was possible for Emmett to blush any deeper than he already was. "Umm, that's from the first time we were together, _together_. We got a little anxious and well…you know."

"What about the dirty napkin?" I asked, turning it over in my hands. It was stamped with the logo from a local BBQ restaurant and had what appeared to be a sauce stain on it.

He smiled and took it from my hand. "It's not dirty; this was from our first date. I took her to a concert in the park and afterwards we stopped at this little BBQ joint on the way back home. She got sauce all over her hands and this was from me helping her to clean it off."

"So make the card using some of this stuff as a focal point," James said.

"But she won't know what any of these things mean."

"Then that will give you an opportunity to tell her," I pointed out.

He sighed again. "Okay, okay. I'll try, again."

"Hey," Jasper said, coming into the office. I noticed his steps falter when he saw James, but he said nothing as he made his way across the room to me.

To say that I was irritated with Jasper didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling toward him at the moment. For the last five nights he had been out late, coming home in the early morning hours and sliding into bed behind me. It didn't escape my notice that he was always freshly showered and wearing different clothes than when he left. He offered no explanation as to where he had been or what he had been doing other than to say that he was following a lead on my case, and because I had given my promise to not ask him any questions, it wasn't like I could interrogate him.

On the first night he came home late, I had fallen asleep watching a Lifetime movie. It was one of those where the woman finds her husband cheating and then decides to kill him, chopping him up into little pieces. Since that night I had literally been sick to my stomach, nauseous and throwing up with the idea that Jasper was not in fact out following leads, but cheating on me. Why else would he need to shower _before _coming home? Perhaps, to get rid of _her_ physical evidence?

His behavior left me feeling emotionally empty and anxious, and while I had repeatedly told myself that what he was doing was so that I could be safe, it was harder to convince my heart of that. I knew that I was shutting him off emotionally, and I could hear Dr. Dwyer's voice in my head chastising me for not communicating my feelings and fears. Part of the reason I was shutting down was because I didn't know how to open up and tell him what was going on, and the other part was that I was just plain scared shitless.

The fact of the matter was, and should it come down to it, I honestly didn't know how to live without Jasper. We were so entwined with each other that it was hard to determine where he ended and where I began. In college, Rose and I had made fun of the girls who gave up their own identities for a boyfriend or fiancé. We swore that we would never end up like that, and while I was still very much my own person, with my own thoughts and opinions, Jasper was the focal point in my life. No one had ever made me feel as loved and accepted as he had, or had in turn, accepted the same from me.

So, not only did my nerves make me sick almost every morning, I was having weird nightmares of being mixed and then kneaded like bread dough, and I was also starting to forget things. Just that morning I had to send Tyler back to the house to pick up my laptop that I had left on the kitchen counter and the day before I had discovered that I had missed two days worth of birth control pills. I called Carlisle after I doubled up on the pills, only for him to tell me to throw the pack out, and to start another after my period ended. So now I was battling bloating, cramps and a possible cheating boyfriend.

He leaned down and kissed my neck. "It's late, when are you coming up?"

I pulled away from him as he tried to kiss me, turning my head so that his lips connected with my cheek instead. "We still have about an hour or so more to go."

"Well let me help," he offered, wiggling into the chair behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. His hands rested on my hips and he rubbed my thighs suggestively.

"Sure, we just need to explain how we're redesigning the standard solenoid valve in order to maximize fuel flow," James said, pushing the blueprints across the desk to him.

I didn't appreciate James's condescending tone toward Jasper, but I didn't stop to reproach him on it either. I felt Jasper's muscles twitch, but he ignored James and turned back to me.

"Can you finish this later? I thought maybe we could watch a movie, you know, just spend some time together."

I stood up abruptly and moved to the other side of the desk, taking my laptop and notes with me. "I can't right now. We have to get this finished tonight."

"But babe—"

"James, will you pass me that folder over there?" I asked, interrupting Jasper, and effectively dismissing him.

I could feel Jasper's and Emmett's eyes on me, but I ignored them and continued working.

Jasper sucked in a deep breath, apparently giving up on trying to talk to me, and stood up. "Em, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"He shouldn't expect you to just drop your work whenever he gets the notion," James said, after Jasper and Em had stepped out of the office. "You deserve more respect than that."

"I don't want to talk about it James."

He reached across the desk and laid his hand over mine. "I just don't want you to settle for second best Bella. You're brilliant and beautiful, and he's crazy for not treating you like that."

I pulled my hand away. "He does treat me like that."

"Then why have you been a ball of nerves lately? Why are you sick every morning when he drops you off at work, and every evening when Ben takes you home it's the same? I can see it in your eyes, something's wrong."

I shook my head; I did not want to talk about my relationship with my research assistant. "Nothing is wrong."

He sighed. "I'm here for you Bella if you ever need to talk."

"Thanks James, I do appreciate that. You know, I'm kinda tired after all. I think I'm gonna just finish this tomorrow." I stood up to begin packing up my work papers but my vision swam; I was suddenly very dizzy, and my stomach was churning like I was going to throw up again.

"Bella, are you okay?" James asked, rushing to my side.

I sat back down and closed my eyes. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"You're pale and you're skin is clammy," He said, touching my forehead.

I took a couple of deep breaths and stood up despite the fact that the room continued to sway. "I'm okay James, just tired, and it's probably something I ate." We were being adventurous for lunch and had eaten at a new Mexican restaurant.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You can find your way out, right?"

"Of course. Just call me if you need anything."

I stiffened as he pulled me close for a quick hug; I felt uncomfortable being so close to him. I shook off the creepy feeling that his hug gave me, reasoning that he was just trying to be nice and went upstairs to get ready for bed.

xxxx

"Bella, wake up baby." Jasper gently shook me. "Wake up."

I rolled onto my back and stretched before opening my eyes to look up at him with a sleepy yawn. "What?"

"I think you were having a nightmare. You kept calling my name and begging me to pull you out of the, _dough_?"

I could feel myself blushing and rolled back over. "It was nothing I'm sure."

"Babe, look at me."

"It's nothing Jasper."

"You've been doing this for the last four nights."

"I apologize for being a talkative sleeper. From now on I'll try to refrain from holding a conversation with myself in my sleep," I snapped, bile rising in my throat.

"What's going on with you?"

"Nothing."

"B, you know that I'm here for you if you want to talk or—"

"Yes, I know Jasper." I threw back the bed covers and got up.

"Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom, is that okay?" I snatched my silk rob off of the bench at the foot of the bed and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I made it to the toilet just in time to deposit what was left from my dinner the night before.

"Bella!" Jasper said. "Baby what's wrong?" He turned the door knob, and seeing that the door was locked, began banging on the door and twisting the knob.

"I'm fine Jasper."

"Let me in, I can hear you throwing up."

I turned on the shower and grabbed my toothbrush. "Just leave me alone!"

I stepped under the almost scalding hot water of the shower, only allowing myself the opportunity to freely break down when I was certain that he was no longer standing outside the door.

**JPOV**

Something was wrong with Bella; something was wrong with _us_. She had been pulling away from me ever since the night Emmett and I had locked Riley in the closet and proceeded to _persuade _him into telling us what he knew about Bella's stalker/kidnapper. We had hardly spent any time together in the last week, and at first I thought that she was being withdrawn because I had been spending quite a bit of time, mostly at night, away from her and, unbeknownst to her, with Riley.

I was certain that Riley would have broken by now, but he was stubbornly holding onto his story and now Bella was sick and she wouldn't tell me what was going on. I needed to get him to talk in order to get my relationship back on track.

I could hear Bella being sick and I went to the bathroom door to see if there was anything that I could do to help. She screamed at me for me to leave her alone and I knew better than to push the issue. I sighed and flopped down onto the bed, rolling over onto my back while mentally trying to calculate Bella's last period. The only thing that I could think of was that she was PMS'ing. She was always sick to her stomach and screaming at me a day or two before her period. PMS was a bitch and I was very glad that I had a dick.

"So you're gonna cook the turkey?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, Peter's mom sent me her recipe for some sort of injectable Cajun marinade. She says that the boys go crazy for it." Char said.

I pushed open the kitchen door to find the girls surrounded by piles of cookbooks and recipe cards. Thanksgiving was a little more than a week away and they had been buzzing about it for a few days now. My first instinct was to slowly back out of the kitchen. I had enough experience with the girls and PMS to know that once one of them started, the rest soon synced up. And by the way Bella was acting a few hours prior, I was sure that at least one more of them was on the hate-a-man-train by now. Since mine was currently the only penis within a fifty foot radius, I had no back up should it come down to a ball bustin' show down.

"Hey Jasper," Rose said. "What time does your mom's flight get in?"

_Damn, one of them caught me before I could disappear._

"Umm, I think around four o'clock the Tuesday evening of Thanksgiving week."

"So Char, you're in charge of the turkey and dressing. Rose you got the mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole and the corn bread." Bella said, taking notes. "And I'm doing the sweet potato casserole, fried okra, the ham, and the sweet potato and pumpkin pies. What else do we need?"

"I think that's enough. It's just the seven of us," Char said.

"No, don't forget Angela and Riley," Rose said.

At the mention of Riley's name I choked on the water I was drinking. Little did either of them know, Riley would not be attending anyone's Thanksgiving dinner this year. If Emmett and I couldn't get anything out of him in the next day or two, we would have to discreetly dispose of him somewhere far away from Sound Beach. It was taking too much out of the both of us to keep him prisoner.

"Oh, and I was thinking about calling Kate Whitcomb and her husband." Bella said.

"Who?" I asked.

"You know, we met them the night we went to see _Wicked_. She knew my mother."

"Oh yeah."

"We've been having lunch at least once a week since, and I know that she has no other family here."

"So that's eleven people." Rose said. "If we invite any more then we'll have to get the extra table leaf out of storage."

"I think that should be enough," Char said. "But oh, what about Carlisle and Esme?"

"Oh and I forgot James!" Bella said. "Write him down, and that makes an even fourteen."

"James? Hell no," I said.

"What, why not?" Bella asked.

I was at a loss for how to answer that question without sounding like a jealous boyfriend. Three sets of eyes stared at me waiting on my answer, and suddenly I felt very uncomfortable with the estrogen level in the room.

"Well um, he's like an employee, right? So that means it violates Emmett's no fraternization policy." I mentally high fived myself for such quick thinking.

"I've already talked about it with Em, and he's cool with it."

"What?"

_Son of a bitch! Betrayed!_

Bella rolled her eyes. "Get over it Jasper. Both of his backgrounds came back clean. He's been nothing if not professional and he's helped me in more ways than one on the latest kink in my research. Plus, he has no family here; they're all in Georgia."

"Yeah, but-"

"But what Jasper?" Bella asked, clearly annoyed.

"Hey Bells," Emmett said, coming into the kitchen. "I just buzzed James in through the gate."

"Wh-what? He's here? Today? It's Saturday."

"I told you that we had that presentation next week for the Engineers for the Future meeting. We're just going over the last few details."

I looked at Emmett and he shrugged.

"But I thought we were going to that concert in the park tonight."

The doorbell rang and Bella kissed me quickly. "Jasper, that's at seven tonight. Its half past twelve now, and we'll be done in two hours tops. We'll be in Em's office if you need us."

She bounced out of the kitchen and I turned and punched Emmett in the arm. "What the hell man?"

"What?" he asked, concentrating on building his multi layered sandwich.

"_James_? You're okay with _James_ being here?"

He shrugged again. "We'll at least he's here where you can watch him," he pointed out.

What he said made sense, but that was beside the point. "But that's beside the point."

"Then what is the point?" Char asked. "Are you jealous?"

I laughed nervously. "Jealous of what?"

"That he speaks Bella's language and he's kinda cute." Rose said.

"I speak Bella's language," I said, sticking out my chest. "And I'm cute!"

"You certainly are cute," Bella said, running back into the kitchen.

"What's that?" I asked, indicating the flower in her hand.

"It's a Tacca Chantrieri, or black bat flower. James brought it over from China last summer and he grows them in his green house. He gave me this one to see if I can cultivate them. Isn't it pretty?"

"So he's giving you flowers now?" I said, trying to tame the green eyed monster. Every man knows not to give someone else's girlfriend a flower. Bella was _mine,_ he was infringing on my territory, and I did not like it one bit.

"It's a potted plant Jasper."

"Yeah, but…" I sighed. I didn't want to argue with Bella about this, and by the look she was giving me, I knew that I needed to just drop the subject for now. "Okay, okay. Do you want pizza for lunch?" I asked, changing the subject.

She grinned. "James brought Chinese food from Famous Sichuan in Manhattan, and chocolate cheesecake from Juniors!" She licked her lips. "God, I so need some chocolate right now."

"Oh." I said, disappointed. I knew how much she loved chocolate cheesecake when she was PMS'ing, and I had planned to take her to Junior's after the concert. "Well, don't eat too much."

She kissed me before running out again. "Love ya."

Emmett slapped me on my back, grinning like a fool. "Looks like you got a little competition bro."

"Shut up!"

xxx

I was trying to not take my frustrations out on Riley, but it was his fault that Bella was not speaking to me, and it was his fault that I was away from her.

The night before, Emmett and I had moved him, under the cover of darkness, to an extra storage room in the basement of the building of my loft apartment. It was simply too cold to leave him in the closet at the parking deck, and because the storage room had once belonged to a famous rapper, the walls had been made into a soundproof studio. No one could hear him screaming.

Did it make sense that even though we were torturing him, we didn't want him to freeze to death? No, but it was not like we were torturing him for fun or because we had been hired by some sort of Crime boss. We only wanted information out of him.

"Just tell me what I want to know Riley, and then you'll be free to go."

"I can't," he moaned.

"Why not?" I demanded, for the fourth time that night. My patience was wearing thin.

"He'll kill me, and Angela too."

My interest piqued. This was the first time that he had mentioned anything about Angela.

"If you don't tell me, I can't help you."

He laughed weakly. "Yeah, you want to help me."

"No, I don't really want to help _you_, and I very well may kill you myself. But I like Angela, and I don't want anything happening to her."

He coughed up blood and spat it out. "Okay, I'll tell you what I can, but you have to promise me that you won't hurt Angela."

I grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head back. "You will tell me _everything_, and I promise that Angela will be safe." I released his head with a shove and pulled up a stool, sitting down in front of him. "Talk."

"I work for Edward Masen."

I stood up, kicking the stool away and grabbed him by the throat. "What the fuck?"

"Do you…want to hear…this, or no?" He asked, struggling to breathe.

I knew that attacking him again before hearing the full story was pointless, so I righted the fallen stool and sat down again. "Go on."

He took a couple of deep breaths before beginning again. "Like I said, I work for Edward, and have been for the last year or so. I was just a regular _Soldato_, running drugs, collecting rents and just whatever else he needed at the time, but it became obvious that that's all I would ever be. So I came up with a plan to get recognized and make him some serious money in a one shot deal. If it worked, we could flip the money and make even more. Long story short, it didn't work out and I ended up owing him more money than his initial investment.

"He was generous, and gave me a chance to pay it back in installments. The first couple of payments I used the money in my trust fund, but then that money ran out and Emmett refused to give me an advance on the rest. So Edward put me in touch with a couple of people that I could do some things for, but it was never enough.

"One night I was approached by this guy in a bar who said that he needed some help doing a job. He didn't say what the job was or really even who he was. He just told me how much he would pay me and that I needed to disguise my appearance. I didn't know what we were even gonna do until we were on the way to the parking garage that night. By then, it was too late to back out of it. He said that he knew where we lived and that Angela would suffer if I didn't play my part in it."

"So let me get this straight, you lost Edwards money in a deal gone wrong." I ticked off the story points on my fingers as I spoke. "He gave you an opportunity to pay it back but unfortunately the payments were too much to keep up with. So then you started loaning yourself out to do shit jobs for money, and you still didn't have enough. Then you basically tricked yourself out to be some unknown guys bitch, and if you didn't do what he said, then not only would this guy kill Angela, but Edward would take care of you too for not paying him back. So then you attack Bella at this guys "suggestion" and locked her in a closet?"

"It wasn't supposed to be like that. We were just going to take her laptop, notebook and look for a flash drive. He got little carried away…I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. After he locked her in there, we had a bad fight; he beat the shit out of me and left me in a ditch in New Jersey saying that Angela was next if I tried to free Bella."

The pieces of the puzzle started to fit. Riley was telling me the same story that Ana Marie had told us; he was _Lee _-Angelo's cousin- short for _Riley_. "And on top of all that, he still didn't pay you." I said.

"How did you know?"

"Because your cousin Angelo went to Edward and offered to pay your debt _and_ your way out of the 'business'. Edward apparently agreed by forcibly enlisting the help of his sister Ana Marie. He threatened to kill Angelo- saying that he was insulted by the offer- if she didn't help him kidnap Bella."

"But she's okay; he didn't kidnap her, right?"

"No, he did, but I got her back though."

"I had wondered why he and Ana Marie just disappeared like that." Riley dropped his head. "This is all so fucked up."

"Out of curiosity, how much did you owe Edward?"

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But he 'rounded' it up to a cool million."

"Why are you still doing these jobs if Angelo paid off your debt to Edward?"

"Because this guy is still threatening Angela."

"He's still working for Bella's stalker, and he's not going to stop." I said. "And you don't know who he is?"

He shook his head. "He told me his name was Stefan Vladimir. He has a like a Russian or Romanian accent, but he knows how to hide it well."

"Is that all that you know about him?"

"Yes."

"What bar did you meet him in?"

"I think it was _Chasers_, on fifty-first street."

"You _think_?"

"I was pretty wasted that night. He took me home and left his number in my phone. I called him the next morning and he gave me the instructions for the job."

"Then you know how to contact him."

"No. After that first time, he contacts me when he wants a job done and when he calls, it's from a different phone number each time."

"You have no idea when he will contact you then?"

"No. Please, you have to protect Angela. I'll do whatever you want me to do, just keep my sister safe."

At the moment I didn't know what to do with him. My head was pounding with all of the information he had just shared and I needed to get back to Sound Beach to talk to Emmett. There was no question about it, we would protect Angela, and I would buy Riley's silence of our involvement in his torture with the fact that she would always be guarded. But as far as I was concerned, Riley was on his own. He had found his way into all of this mess, and he could find his own way out.

I stood up to leave.

"Wait, what are you going to do with me?" he asked.

"We'll move you tomorrow." I released one of his wrists from the handcuffs so that he could eat the food I brought. "I suggest you use your last night under my _protection_ to think of a way to get yourself out of this shit."

I left Riley and went upstairs to shower and change. Even though we had only talked, I still felt dirty, and the simple act of washing seemed to bring me back to myself.

I didn't loiter at my business; I was anxious to get back home to Bella. Our date night had been cut short when she got sick again, and since we couldn't go to the concert in the park, we could at least watch a movie or something. Normally I was not the cuddling type of man, but I desperately needed my woman tonight.

I flipped off the lights and pulled the door open to see Alice standing in my doorway, hand raised as if to knock.

"It's been more than a week Jasper. We need to talk."

"I can't right now Alice."

She pushed her way into my apartment and flipped on the lights. "Tough."

**BPOV**

"Bella?" Rose asked, coming into my room.

I looked up from the fetal position that I was curled in. "Yeah?"

"How ya feeling hun?"

"I'm okay." She came and sat down on the edge of my bed. "How was your date?"

She smiled weakly and dropped her head. "It was okay."

"Just okay?"

She nodded, refusing to look at me. "It was wonderful actually. Sam is really nice and we have so much in common."

"That's great, but why do you look so down?"

She fidgeted with her fingers. "I…I'm…God, I hate Emmett!"

I pushed myself up in a sitting position. My heart sunk at her outburst, but I masked my features to remain neutral. "Do you really?"

"No," she mumbled. "It's just that…I love him, but I don't want to get hurt again."

"Have you two talked then?"

"Kinda, but not really. He made me a card though."

"And?"

"He wants to talk. But I'm not so sure."

"Not sure of what Rosie?"

"I just don't want to take him back that easily."

"Who said you had to?"

"But if we talk, that's what's gonna happen."

"Nothing's gonna happen that you both don't want to happen. Talk to him first and see what he's got to say. You may feel differently afterwards and you may not. But one thing's for certain, you don't want to throw four years away and not be absolutely sure that it's the right thing to do. Do you?"

"No." She kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed beside me, her hands absently mindedly running up and down the flat planes of her stomach.

"What did the card say?"

Her smile brightened, and she had a far-away look in her eye. "He actually took the time to make me a card. Can you believe it?" I smiled and bit my tongue to keep from saying anything. "It was in the shape of a Ferris wheel, and on the inside he taped a hair pin that he said I used to hold my hair back while we were on it. He wrote in _detail _about the things we talked about that night-stuff that I didn't even remember-and then at the bottom he asked me out on a conversation date."

"A conversation date?"

"He said that he wanted to meet me for lunch at Piggy's BBQ Shack for a sandwich and conversation. He even had a partially stained napkin attached to the back of the card. I asked him what it meant, but he said that he would only tell me if I agreed to meet him."

"So are you?" I asked, trying to contain my excitement.

"I don't know. I think so."

"If you're not ready, you can always say no."

She shook her head. "If nothing else, I'm tired of the fighting. It's not good for either of us."

"I think that's a good idea."

"Hey, where's Jasper? Isn't tonight date night for you guys?"

I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to dry the tears before they ran down my face. "Yeah, but I think he's with his new girlfriend."

Rose sat up abruptly. "What?"

"I was too tired to go out, and my stomach's still churning from the birth control pills I doubled up on. So he waited for a while until I fell asleep and then he left." I passed her the note that Jasper had left on the bedside table saying that he would be back shortly.

"But why do you think he's with another woman?"

"He's been coming in late every night for the last week almost, and he's always freshly showered and has on different clothes than when he left."

"So maybe he's going to work out or something. What's his excuse?"

"We have a gym downstairs Rose. And I haven't asked him."

"What? Wait a minute, you're lying up here literally making yourself sick with worry and you haven't even asked him what's going on?"

I looked away. "Because he told me not to question him."

"Are you sure? That doesn't sound like something Jasper would say."

I nodded. "It was right after Char and mines little adventure in catching Riley. He warned me not to do anything that would put my life in jeopardy and not to ask him any questions about what he was doing."

"I don't know Bella; I think you may have misunderstood him. You need to talk to him."

"I know, but it may already be too late." I mumbled.

"Listen to me girlie, one thing that I know for sure is that Jasper is in love with you. You are his Sun and his Moon. I think your hormones are so out of whack, that you're making something be there when it really isn't. Hold on, I'll be right back." Rose jumped off the bed and ran out of the room only to return a few minutes later. "I _need_ you to come with me."

"Where are we going? And what's in the bag?" She took my hand and pulled me along behind her to the bathroom. "Okay, so you need me to help you pee?"

"No." She dumped the contents of the bag onto the counter and looked at me quizzically.

It's funny how ten minutes can change your life. We both stared at the little white sticks a few minutes later as if they would form an infantry squad and attack us.

I turned to the toilet and threw up. Rose patted my back and made shushing noises as we both cried, each of us for our own completely different reasons.

"Bella?" Jasper said, knocking on the door. "Baby, are you sick again?"

"I don't want him to see me like this."

"Bella, if you don't let me in I'm gonna rip the knob off of this door!" he yelled, banging on the door now.

"You'll have to tell him how you feel eventually."

"I know, but not right now."

"You're being too hard on yourself about this."

The door knob turned, and Rose lunged for the door, closing it in Jasper's face.

"I know, I just need time to get used to the idea. Just don't say anything, okay?"

"You know that I won't."

"I love you, and I'm here for you whenever you need me."

"I know girl, same here."

**JPOV**

I stood, looking at my reflection in the mirror.

My life was in the toilet and I didn't know how to fix it. Bella was mad at me, and my conscious was working overtime with what to do about Riley.

Emmett and I had talked about it the night before and had come to the conclusion that we would send Angela away with enough money and protection to last her a lifetime. The protection part was easy; apparently she and Ben had fallen hard for each other and had been spending every evening together. So after talking it over with Ben, Emmett fired him and temporarily rehired me until I could determine a suitable replacement for the both of us.

Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but like I said, Bella wasn't talking to me now and didn't even want me touching her.

I beat my fist into the granite countertop in frustration, popping the band on my watch. As I knelt to pick up the watch pieces I noticed the boxes and white sticks hidden beneath small balls of toilet tissue and other various bathroom garbage.

My heart stopped beating at the sight of those three little letters.

It's funny how one small word can change your whole life.

* * *

**A/N: Okee dokee! Let me know what you're thinking. And yes, I know Bella is being a butt! But did you think she would do a complete turn around after only a few sessions with Dr. Dwyer? And what do you think is physically going on with Bella? Hmmm...;)**

**I need a few suggestions for Emmett wooing/groveling to get Rose back. I'm coming up empty in the romance department, so anything you got, let me know...PLEASE!**

**Thanks to all of my readers, reviewers, and those who put this on alert or added it your favorites! I HEART you all, so keep them coming!**


	22. Chapter 22

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 22**

**Thanks a million Cullen818 and JamesRamsey! The best beta's in the world!**

**SM owns it!****JPOV**

* * *

Bella was pregnant?

Bella was pregnant with _my_ child?

No wonder she was so sick and a ball of nerves, snapping at me at every turn!

I hadn't expected to stumble upon this information, and I hope I wasn't jumping the gun, but my baby was having my baby and there was nothing in the world sweeter than that! It took less than a second after seeing that little three letter word on the test stick thingy for me to start dancing around the bathroom. There was no way in the universe that I could be this lucky.

I remembered back to the first time we had made love and being worried because we hadn't used any form of protection. Bella told me about her endometriosis, and she had said that it would be _difficult_ to impregnate her, but not impossible. And with the amount of sex we had been having lately, this was bound to happen at some point. I mean, the shear probability of it happening based on that fact alone was astounding.

After that night, I had researched everything I possibly could about her condition, wanting to be well informed in case something like this happened. I knew that an endometriosis pregnancy could be very difficult and that she would need to make sure that her hormones were in balance in order to avoid having a miscarriage.

I was literally a walking encyclopedia of information on endometriosis and the stages of pregnancy, and the first thing I did was to check my calendar to try to determine how far along she was. Of course I knew that it would be impossible for me to get an accurate count, but until we could get to a doctor, I was willing to settle for a ballpark figure.

My mind was turning of all of the things we needed to do, the first being that we needed to call Carlisle. We needed a referral to the best OBGYN in New York. I wanted the best for my babies, and that also included finding a replacement bodyguard for Ben.

I didn't want to overdo it, but I was now planning on having two of my top men on Bella's security detail. I was, after all, protecting two people instead of just one. The only problem in assigning two people would be convincing Bella that it was warranted and necessary.

She didn't know that I knew that she was pregnant and we needed to have that discussion immediately.

"Bella, can we talk for a minute?" I asked, coming into her office. She looked up from the set of blueprints that littered her desk, with a rather blank look on her face that indicated that she was aware of being spoken to, but had not detached her mind from what she was doing to realize who was speaking or what was being said. I knew that look well, and gave her a moment to focus.

She blinked, recognition setting in. "I'm really busy right now Jasper."

My phone rang, and after seeing the caller ID flashing Alice's name, I sent it straight to voicemail. She had already called me three times before I had even left the house with Bella, and each time I had pushed the 'ignore' button. You'd have thought she would have gotten the hint by now. "It's kinda important." Important was not an accurate word to describe what we needed to talk about. The word monumental came to mind.

"James and I have an experiment exhibition in about twenty minutes and I have to finish these last few details."

"What's an experiment exhibition?"

She sighed, impatience clearly showing. "Our board of directors want to see the progress we've made on the engine, so we're conducting an exhibition for them."

"Is it safe?"

"What do you mean, is it safe?"She stood, and began reorganizing her notes.

"I mean, you're gonna be mixing chemicals and stuff, right?"

"The bio fuel is already mixed."

"But it must give off some sort of exhaust, and you'll be in an enclosed lab."

"It's my special bio fuel solution Jasper, and it's sixty percent cleaner than the fuel we use in our cars today. But to answer your question, yes, there will be some exhaust. However, the part of the lab we'll be in was designed for tests such as these and is well ventilated. Plus, we'll all be wearing facial mask."

What she said was all fine and good, but I was still worried, and frankly it bothered me a little that she wasn't overly concerned about what an experiment gone wrong could do to a tiny fetus. "Can't James do the experiment?"

She looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Why would I abdicate my _life'_s work to my research assistant?"

"Well, isn't that what you hired him for?"

"He's an assistant, meaning that he will _assist_ me with the experiment. There's no way I would just give him full reign over this project."

"But—"

She threw the paper down on to the desk. "Jasper, what is this about?"

I took her hands into mine and pulled her close to me, wrapping my arms around her waist. "I love you, and I'm just concerned."

"Really Jasper, because here lately you haven't been acting like it."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means that—"

"Hey Bella," James said, knocking on the partially open door. He hesitated, looking back and forth between Bella and me before speaking. "I've got everything set up in the lab, but I need you to reset the calibrations."

"I gotta go Jasper."

She tried to push me away, but I held her tighter. "Wait a minute; we're not through talking about this."

"For right now, yes we are."

She struggled in my grasps and I finally let her go. "We can't just leave it like this."

"What do you want me to do Jasper? Go tell our board of directors that I have to make up with my boyfriend before I can conduct an experiment that will potentially change the lives of people all over the entire world? I have too much riding on this."

I reached out and touched her stomach, our baby. "So do we."

"Bella?" James asked, still hovering in the doorway.

I wanted to take my frustrations out on him, but at the moment I really had no valid reason-other than the fact that I hated him- to kick his ass. I stepped back and tried my best to not sound like a whiny baby. "B, please be careful with this experiment."

She turned and looked at me before walking out the door. "I'm always careful Jasper. Nothing is going to go wrong."

**XXXX**

I paced the lobby floor in front of Bella's office waiting for her to come up to her office from the lab. I wanted to take her to lunch and really talk with her about what was going on in our lives, without interruptions.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Emmett asked, stepping off the elevator.

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

"You okay, you're looking a little, well, funky?"

"No, I'm good. What's up?"

"I'm looking for Bella. She isn't back up here yet?"

"Yet? Is her experiment finished then?"

"Yeah, about a half an hour ago." Emmett said, looking at his watch. "She said that she was coming right back up here."

I grabbed Emmett's arm in a panic. "You left her alone? Aww fuck Emmett, you're always leaving her with someone else!"

Emmett shrugged me off of him. "Get a grip Whitlock, she's with James."

"James is not suitable protection for her! Where did you see her last?" I demanded, my mind conjuring all types of harm coming to my babies. I felt my chest tightening with the thought that something bad could be happening to them.

"Would you relax, she's right there." Emmett said, pointing over my right shoulder.

I heard her laugh, and like a beacon of light in a dark stormy night, I turned to her. My heart started beating again at the sight of her, safe, and for once in the last few days, smiling and happy.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Emmett asked.

I shook off the panicky feeling in my stomach. "Nothing is wrong, I'm good."

"Look, come talk to me for a minute." Emmett said, and turned to open the board room doors.

"I can't right now, I need to talk to Bella." I was damn near twitching to get her alone.

"Not right now Jasper," Bella said. "James and I have to –"

"This is important Bella." I said, trying to keep my temper in check. I was tired of playing second string to _James_, and I was starting to think that perhaps she was trying to avoid me. But why? Why did she not want to talk to me and better yet, why wasn't _she_ running to _me_ to tell me about our child?

"I have a mountain of work to do today. Why are you hounding me?" She asked angrily.

I took a deep breath and stepped back. I didn't want her getting herself worked up or overly excited; high blood pressure and stress was not good for her or the baby. "I'm sorry, but you know that we have some _serious_ stuff that we really need to talk about." We needed to talk about the baby, and I needed to tell her what happened between Alice and I the night before. The guilt of that was weighing heavily on my mind.

"I don't know what _serious_ stuff you're referring to, but fine, what about tonight? Or are you going to be out, again?"

Yep, I knew she was pissed about the amount of time I had been spending away from home. Seeing her face, I also knew she was waiting on me to say that I was not coming home until much later. And honestly, I wasn't. Emmett and I had yet to determine what to do about Riley, but one thing was for certain, he would have to be moved that night and the room would have to be cleaned and sterilized before I could do anything else. I was looking at an all-nighter at the very least.

"Yeah, I've got some things to do."

"Figures," she mumbled, voice quivering and eyes slightly tearing.

"Please don't be mad," I whispered, stepping closer to her.

And then she flipped the emotional switch, cutting me off. "Well maybe we can make an appointment for some time before Thanksgiving."

"Bella, don't be like this," I pleaded with her.

"Be like what? When I need you, you aren't there, and then you expect me to just drop everything and be at your beck and call."

"C'mon, that's not fair. You know it's not like that. I've only been this busy for the last week or so." My fucking phone rang, again, and it was Alice, again. This time I turned the damn thing off.

"Yeah, well a lot can happen in a _week or so,_" she said, mimicking my words. "And just answer the damn thing! It's been ringing off the hook all morning!"

"Jasper, I've got a meeting in fifteen minutes," Emmett said. "This won't take but a second."

"Just go Jasper," Bella said, turning away from me and going into her office.

"Bella-"

Emmett clamped a restraining hand on my shoulder. "Just leave her alone for now. Even if you two were to talk right now, you wouldn't get anything resolved with her being in this mood."

"She's never been like this to me before."

Emmett shrugged and smiled. "You still got a lot to learn about my little sister." He closed the board room doors and perched on the edge of the long conference table. "I've found a place for you to take Riley."

I wearily sunk down into one of the plush leather chairs and rested my head in the palms of my hands. "Where?"

"Marlboro, Vermont."

"What the fuck Emmett? You expect me to drive this rat bastard all the way to Vermont? Tonight?"

"Bro, chill out. If you take my plane, you'll be back in a few hours. I would take him, but I've got my conversation date with Rosie tonight."

"Yeah, how convenient." I snapped. He was putting his relationship back together while mine was falling apart.

"You think I'm flaking out on you or somethin'?"

"Look, Bella and I've got some stuff we need to work on, and we can't do that if I'm in Vermont all freaking night."

"It's not gonna take all night. You'll fly up there with him, drop his ass off -on the side of the fucking road for all that I care- and then get the hell back here."

I sighed and stood up, moving toward the door; there was no point in arguing the matter. Taking care of the Riley situation was part of my responsibility in taking care of Bella.

"What the hell is in Malboro, Vermont, anyway?"

"Nothing. It's about the size of a postage stamp and hopefully this fool will be able to stay out of trouble. Were you able to ask Bella about this Stefan Vladimir character?"

"Dude, I haven't been able to ask Bella anything in the last week without her bustin' my nuts. That's why I need some time alone with her to figure out what the hell is going on up here?" I said, tapping my temple with a forefinger.

"Each year we normally take off a few days before and after Thanksgiving. Why don't you guys take a little trip somewhere?"

I raised my eyebrows at Emmett, wondering why he was being so helpful all of a sudden. I knew that Bella had bargained his acceptance of our relationship with the promise to help him win back Rose, but the way he was acting now was night and day compared to how he was just a few days before.

He shrugged, reading my expression correctly. "Rose agreed to meet me for a conversation date. What can I say, I'm in a really good mood?"

"I hope it goes well for you then."

He blushed, fucking _blushed_! "I think that it will. I've got some things planned for her in the next few days that will hopefully show her how much I care."

Bella's office door opened and James came out. I quickly said goodbye to Emmett and all but ran to her office, needing just a moment before I left for Vermont to tell her how much I cared.

"Thanks Carlisle, I'll see you tomorrow at four," Bella said, hanging up the phone.

Great, she was already making the appointment.

She took off her glasses and put her head down on the desk. I eased into place behind her and started massaging her shoulders. She jumped at my initial touch but soon relaxed under my ministrations with her head rolling to the side and a little sigh escaping out from between her soft lips.

"Tomorrow."

"What about tomorrow?" She asked.

"I'm spending all day with just you. We'll do whatever you want. Okay?"

"That means you're gonna be gone all night."

"Not _all_ night."

"Then most of the night."

"Bella-"

"Just go Jasper." She said, for the second time in less than thirty minutes, moving away from me. "I don't want to keep you." She turned her back to me, staring out the window.

I didn't know what to do or what to say, so I decided to just leave it alone for now. "Okay Bella, I'm gonna go ahead and go. But baby, you know that I love you."

She nodded and looked at me with tears in her eyes. "I love you too," she whispered.

I walked away from her feeling like the life had literally been drained from me. Somehow I needed to make this right. I had no experience with pregnant women, but this could not be just a simple hormone thing. It was now more than ever obvious that there was something else wrong. But what?

I searched my brain for something that I may or may not have done that would cause her to be so angry with me, but came up empty. Surly it wasn't just because I had been spending more time than usual away from her. She knew that I was working on her case trying to find this fucker so that she could finally be free from him and live her life without constantly looking over her shoulder.

Could it be that Bella didn't want to have this baby? I remembered her saying several times that she didn't want to have a bunch of babies, and that she loved working. So maybe that was it, she was upset that her working life would be put on hold.

But then I realized that she had said those things when referring to Edward, and what _he _expected out of her. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would never want her to give up her work entirely. I supported her quest for making the environment cleaner; for being a pioneer in her field. There was no way that she could think that I would want her to be a dutiful little wife and mother and not have a life of her own. We had talked about this many times before, but if I needed to reassure her, then I would.

And then, just as I stepped off of the elevator in the parking garage, it hit me like a ton of bricks. While Bella was a very independent, forward thinking woman, she was still very traditional when it came to family values. It was indeed possible that she was scared and disappointed to be pregnant and not married.

To me, that was a no brainer; I loved Bella, and I knew that she loved me. We would get married as soon as possible. Despite what everyone who didn't know us well may think, we would not be getting married solely because she was pregnant. It was only a matter of time before I asked her anyway, so why not make it sooner?

I knew several event planners and we could be married before the year was out. Or, we could just do a quiet ceremony in the back yard with family and a few friends. It didn't matter how it was done, just so long as we had that special day to call our own.

I pulled out of the parking garage and made two phone calls, one to Tom to push back the time of the flight and the other to the manager at _Tiffany's_. If Bella and I were going to spend the next day together, then I wanted to be one step ahead in allaying her fears. I would ask her to marry me first.

**BPOV**

Okay, so I knew that I was being a bitch toward Jasper, but I had a good reason. One word; Alice. And more specifically, what Jasper wasn't telling me about her.

Normally, I wouldn't be overly worried about something that I considered as insignificant as Alice, but what she did crossed the line. She fucking called me! Every time I thought about the "conversation" we had, made me angry.

"_Hello?" I said, answering the _Unknown_ call._

"_Hello, is this Isabella McCarty?"_

_Caught off guard, because only those in the business world called me by my full name, I answered before thinking about it. "Yes, may I help you?"_

"_This is Alice, Jasper's Alice."_

_What the fuck? I pulled the phone back and looked at the offending object. _

"_I'm sorry, you mean Jasper's ex-girlfriend Alice?"_

"_Yeah whatever, that's a temporary technicality." I started to hang up, but stopped when I heard her next. "I don't think you want to hang up on me."_

"_What the hell do you want?"_

"_I want you to break up with Jasper."_

"_You've got to be kidding me," I said in a half laugh, clenching my teeth together._

"_I need him."_

"_News flash, he does not want you!" _

"_That's not what he was saying last night. You should ask him."_

_I knew she was lying and I felt that I didn't need to justify her stupidity with an answer._

"_Whatever bitch, don't call me again." I hung up and turned the phone off, wondering how the hell she had gotten my number in the first place. _

She had called me first thing in the morning, and no less, right before my experiment exhibition, throwing me off my game. I had planned to sit down and have that much needed conversation with Jasper, but after that, I was distracted with trying to get reorganized for my experiment and I was a little more than pissed at him.

I was having a hard time reconciling the fact that there would be no reason for her to call me out of the blue if Jasper didn't have something- no matter how minor- to do with it. Even if he were just talking to her, he should have told me so that I wouldn't have to wonder what was going on. But did he? No, he was too busy being out, doing God knows what and with who.

And what the frigging hell would cause a woman, who I had only met one time in my life, to have enough balls to call me like that and tell me to break up with _my_ man? Who the hell did she think she was? I would stomp a mud hole in her troll looking ass if she messed with Jasper. He was _mine!_

Now he was gone, again, and I failed to take the time I did have with him to tell him what had happened with Alice. But at least I got to tell him that I loved him before he left. I never wanted him to go off without knowing that.

"Where is she? I want to talk to her NOW!"

I was sitting at my desk, wallowing in my misery when I heard a shrill, nasal screeching outside of my office door. Great, I didn't want to have to deal with this shit now.

"Get your hands off of me! Isabella McCarty, where the fuck are you?"

I opened my office door to see Tanya Masen screaming her head off and struggling to get free of Felix. He was doing his best to restrain her, but she was wearing some sort of God awful slippery spandex material type dress that was clearly three sizes too small for her, causing her to slip out of his grasp.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Ms. Masen, we're going to have to call the police if you don't leave the building peacefully!" Felix warned her.

"Fuck you rent-a-cop!" She screamed at him and then turned her brand of craziness on me. "You think you can just treat my brother any kind of way and get away with it? How dare you leave him like that you bitch!"

"You don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Ms. Masen, please." Felix pleaded with her.

"For some crazy reason he's in love with you, and you treat him like some common, every day guy. He's Edward fucking Masen! You should be kissing his ass for even wanting to be around you."

"Did he send you here to plead his case for him? Because if he did, guess what, it's not working! I don't want anything to do with him or you." Something told me to just walk away, keep my mouth shut and let Felix handle the situation. Tanya was as crazy as a shithouse rat, and in her maniacal condition she was liable to do anything. But of course, when have I ever listened to intelligent reasoning? I just had to egg her on. "Maybe if you freed that gut you've got cinched so tight, some air could get to your brain so that you could think straight!"

"You stupid bitch! I hope you fucking get slaughtered by whoever is after you!"

I was tired of Tanya and the whole damn Masen family. Any other day I possibly could have handled her theatrics, but today was not the day to mess with me. She pissed me off to the highest level of pissitivity, and the fury and pent up rage all came out of me at once. I charged her, punching her with my left hand and the side of my purple cast.

Felix tried stepping in between us, to deflect my blows or to stop hers I wasn't sure, but he ended up tripping Tanya in the process and she fell, taking him with her. I kicked her with the toe of my stiletto, and before I could get a second kick in, I heard Emmett yelling and felt Peter grab me from behind.

He hauled me, kicking and screaming, back to my office and unceremoniously dumped me onto the leather sofa. "What the hell are you doing?" He demanded staring at me with hands on his hips.

"Are you fucking insane?" Emmett asked a minute later, coming into my office, and slamming the door.

I sat up, trying to catch my breath and straighten out my clothes. "She taunted me."

"Is that all you got, 'cause that's a piss poor excuse for an executive of this company to attack someone in a public lobby!"

"You didn't hear what she said to me," I said, defending myself.

"It doesn't matter!"

"She said that she hoped I got slaughtered by my stalker!"

"Three of our board of directors saw you punch her and then kick her. What kind of image do you think that sends to them?" Emmett said, scrubbing his face with his hands. He sat down on the sofa next to me and put his arms around me. "I know that you've been stressed out lately, and that you and Jasper have got some stuff going on, but you can't go all UFC on someone just because of something they say."

"But—"

"Hey Lil Mama," Peter said, sitting down on the coffee table in front of me, "listen to Em. You got too much at stake to let those old friggin' fart catchers on the board see you lose it, even for a good reason."

"Why don't you go on home for the day Bells, you look tired and I know how stressed you are."

I sniffed, trying to hold back the tears. "I'm good, I need to stay."

"What I'm trying to say Bella, is go home for the day. The board wants to meet with me, and you don't need to be hanging around for this."

"What do you mean?"

"They want to discuss your behavior, and terms of suspension."

I jumped up, fist balled and ready to fight. "Suspension? What the hell Em, we own this fucking company!"

"Yes, and we operate with a board of directors and a host of investors who have a whole helluva lot to say about what goes on here. If they pull out, our stock goes down and we eliminate departments to compensate, namely experimental departments like yours. Is it worth it just because you want to stay?"

His reminder sobered me, and I released the anger that was building. "Fine."

"Look, I'm on your side, so don't overly worry about it. Just take the day off, go shopping or something-"

"Hey!" Peter protested, knowing that he would have to go with me if I did choose that option.

"Sorry man," Em said, grinning.

"Fine," I said again, sulking.

So much to my dismay I got sent home like an errant school child, and instead of waiting on my punishment from an angry parent, I waited patiently for Emmett to call with the news of my work status.

I busied myself with trying to clean, all while fielding phone calls from Alice. Apparently while my phone was off she had called me every twenty minutes, leaving half crazed rants about me breaking up with Jasper. It only infuriated me more, and spurred my imagination into overtime of how to make Jasper pay for her craziness.

A couple of hours later Emmett called with the news, they voted me out. I had violated several clauses in the ethics policy and was therefore a liability to the company. Emmett argued in my behalf, citing how important to the company the work I was doing and how it could not be continued in my absence. He proposed a compromise consisting of a work schedule that mixed working from home with working from the office. After his rebuttal, the board reconsidered and voted to let it me work from the office once a week and the other four days from home.

To appease me further, Emmett suggested, before I could explode in a swearing rage, that I set up a make shift lab in the outside garage. It was already set up with the tools I used in working on my motorcycles and cars, and could easily be modified to include whatever else I needed to mirror my lab in the City.

One of the essential items that I would need was a video conferencing monitor and a live video feed into my lab at McCarty Enterprises. Just because I was shut out, didn't mean that my work stopped. James would have to take the lead there while I worked at home, and we would stay in touch electronically.

I was not happy about it, but at least I was still working.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked, standing in the doorway of the laundry room. "Are you trying to murder that towel?"

I looked down at the towel I had in my hands. I had twisted it and my fingernails were digging into the material. "I couldn't sleep, so I'm doing laundry."

"God, ever since Angela left, it seems like laundry just grows out of the floor."

I had given Angela time off right before I was kidnapped by Edward, and ever since Rose and I had been taking turns with the chores. Depending on what either of us had going on during the week, there was always one or two days were we were all scrounging around for a clean pair of underwear or running to the market for a last minute ingredient to throw together a meal.

"Yeah, I know. But there are five and a half people living here."

"Five and a half?"

"Yeah, you know, Char's here most nights, but then sometimes she and Peter stay in the City."

"Yeah, but when they stay in the City, their dirty clothes stay here."

We both laughed and folded in silence for a while.

"Maybe we should hire somebody," Rose suggested.

"Yeah, when I spoke to Jake the other day he said that his new girlfriend was looking for work. Maybe I'll call her. But now that I'll be home most every day, I guess I could do it."

Rose reached out and squeezed my hand. "It's not the end of the world hun."

"I know, I'm just mad that I let her get to me like that. Now, Edward's bound to pop up at any moment to defend his sisters so called honor."

"Let's just hope you and Jasper taught him a lesson by locking him in that basement. Maybe he's afraid of you now." We talked a few minutes more about inconsequential topics, trying to avoid the one topic that I was remiss to talk about. "By the way, where is Jasper, it's almost midnight?"

I guess Rosie got tired of trying to avoid the pink elephant in the room.

"Don't ask."

"Okee dokee then," she said, gathering up a pile of freshly dried towels.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just…"

"I understand, remember?"

I changed the subject. "So how was your conversation date?"

She grinned like a fool. "It was really wonderful. We met at Piggy's BBQ shack like I told you before, and he told me about the napkin on the back of my card. I can't believe he kept that!"

I smiled, happy that my friend was happy even though my life was literally falling down around my ankles. "That's great Rose."

I thought her face would crack she was smiling so hard.

"But I'm sure you don't want to hear about this."

"No, I do." I stopped folding the pillow case in my hands and pushed up on the counter. "Please, I wanna know."

"Okay, well, if you're sure?"

I nodded.

"Like I said, we went to Piggy's, and I know it's not a romantic place at all—we didn't need one to just talk- but Em requested the same table we sat at when he first took me there. It was the table that looked out over the Bay. He gave me a bouquet of sunflowers—"

"Sunflowers?"

"Well how lame would a bouquet of roses been?"

I nodded. "Good point. Go on."

"Hold on, I gotta go pee." She took off down the hallway to the powder room and came back a few minutes later. "So he gave me a bouquet of sunflowers and then he pulled out his iPhone and showed me a picture of the landscape portrait I did sophomore year at NYU. You know, the one I did that summer I spent in that little village in France? Bella, Em and I weren't even messin' around then! Em said that he had had a crush on me ever since I turned eighteen, but was too scared to say or do anything about it!"

"That's so sweet Rose."

"I know right? He said that he's got a picture of every piece of artwork that I've done since that portrait!"

"So what else did you guys talk about?"

He face sobered a little, becoming more serious. "Well, I told him how I felt about our relationship—if you can even call it that- and how it made me feel that we never formalized anything. He apologized over and over, saying that he thought that that's the way I wanted it."

"Why would he think that?"

Rose dropped her head and concentrated on folding the last towel before answering. "I think that's my fault. He reminded me that we had a conversation one night more than three years ago about relationships in general. I may have said something to the effect that I never wanted to be attached to one person so completely that they over shadowed my life, and that I had way too many things in life that I wanted to do and probably would never settle down."

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago, why would he think that you still felt the same way?"

She shrugged. "I guess because, in all the conversations that we had since, I never retracted the statement and I never gave him reason to believe otherwise. You know how, deep down, Em's really just a big 'ol teddy bear? He said that he was too intimidated to ask me about it again."

"So this is all just a royally fucked up mess of miscommunication."

"Yep, pretty much. But maybe it's for the best."

"What do you mean? What else happened?"

"Well we talked about the last few weeks and we both apologized to each other for the way we've been acting. He feels terrible about the weight comment… and my Prada bag." She smiled slyly, like she was having a private thought, and started going through the pockets of a pile of jeans. Em and Jasper always left loose change, pens and business cards in their pockets. "He asked me out again."

"And?"

"I said yes."

"So where are you going?"

She dropped a handful of coins into the empty pickle jar on the shelf. "I don't know. We agreed to kinda start over, ya know. So nothing too romantic and nothing that would promote us just jumping head first into anything. We're gonna take it slowly, get to know each other again, and I'm still gonna see Sam from time to time."

"Sam? Why the hell would Em agree to that?"

"Bella, Emmett's the only person I've ever been with, _been with_. And while I'm most definitely not going to be with Sam like that, it would be nice to have other experiences."

"Does Sam know this?"

She nodded. "He knows _everything_, and he still wants to get to know me, as a friend now, maybe more later."

"What about Em?"

"He knows enough for right now."

"But you haven't told him about —"

"Are these Jasper's jeans?" She asked, holding up a pair of faded _Lucky Brand_ jeans.

"Umm yeah, I think he was wearing those when he came home last night."

"After being out all night?"

"Yeah," I said, hesitantly. "Why?"

"It probably means nothing," she said softly.

"What probably means nothing?" I asked, my heart beating faster.

"Don't jump to conclusions, okay?"

She pulled her hand out of his pocket, and the light reflected off of the torn, square silver foil condom packet, mocking me in a testament to my fears.

* * *

**A/N: Let me know what you're thinking!**

**Thanks to all of you guys that sent in suggetions for Rose and Em. I'm slowly working some of them into the story.**


	23. Chapter 23

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 23**

**Thanks to my supa dupa beta's Cullen818 and JamesRamesy for beta'ing this lightening fast!**

**SM owns it, but I just bought a new pair of running shoes and just signed up for my first 5K race!**

**Don't hate me, okay?...**

* * *

**BPOV**

Rose grabbed me and held onto me tightly as I fell to the floor. The intense way she was holding me reminded me of the times I would stub my toe on the corners of my dresser or coffee table or whatever really happened to be in the way of me walking. I would fall to floor in pain, and squeeze my foot in a death grip, almost as if the tighter I squeezed, the less it hurt.

I couldn't breathe, and this time it wasn't due to my asthma. It felt like my chest had been ripped open and someone had removed my internal organs with a dull rusty spoon. I thought that the time I had spent locked in that closet for five days was the worse pain I had and would ever feel, but this was hundreds of times worse.

"Don't do this to yourself Bella. It could mean nothing," Rose said, rocking me back and forth and running her hands up and down my back. "Just calm down hun because we don't know what this means."

I knew that she was trying to soothe me, but there was nothing on earth that could assuage the pain I was feeling at the moment.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I moaned.

"First, get yourself together." She leaned back to stare in my eyes. "You have to talk to him, tell him _everything_. And you cannot jump to conclusions."

"But what else could it mean besides the obvious Rose?" I sobbed.

"I don't know hun, but this isn't Jasper. He wouldn't do that to you. You know this, right?"

I nodded, trying to fight the doubts that were creeping into my heart. Faith, I had to have faith in Jasper.

"You have to give him time to explain. Rely on your faith in him."

"It just hurts so bad."

"I know, I know."

We sat on the floor for a while longer before Rose finally convinced me to go up to bed. At first I couldn't sleep no matter how much I tried, so she stayed up with me watching a movie until we both finally fell asleep.

"Rose, Rose wake up."

I rolled over to see Jasper on Rose's side of the bed trying to wake her. She stretched and yawned sleepily.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"A little after two." Jasper said, shaking Rose again. "C'mon Rose."

I nudged her until she finally woke up.

She looked at the closed bathroom door that Jasper had disappeared through and then at me. "Remember to listen to him first," she whispered, and pressed something cold into my hand. "And use this only if you have to."

I looked down at my hand to see the small switch blade shiv that she normally kept in her bra and smiled a little. "Rose."

"It's for just in case." She stopped at the door and turned back to me. "And remember, I can be ready to roll to this bitch's house under five minutes if it goes down like that."

I laughed at her and slid the knife under my pillow. The bathroom door opened and Jasper stood in the doorway, brushing his teeth and flipping the channels on the TV with the remote.

"Wha uoo 'wo 'oin' up?"

"What?"

He went and spat the tooth paste out and gargled before coming back out. "What are you two still doing up?"

"Actually she was just keeping me company while I waited on you."

Jasper tossed the remote to the middle of the bed and slid in under the covers next to me, gathering me into his arms. "You shouldn't be waiting up for me. You need your rest."

I closed my eyes and tried to relax my mind. My thoughts were yelling at me and I needed to find the balance between how to ask him what I needed to know and not to go at him with screaming accusations.

_Faith. _Rose's words repeated on loop, r_ely on my faith in him._

_Yes I gotta have faith, faith, faith!_ And suddenly George Michael's song played through my mind. Jasper had never lied to me before, why would he start now? I had faith in Jasper, but I still needed to know.

He slipped his hands under my sleep shirt and began rubbing my stomach. "So, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Huh?"

"Tomorrow. We're spending the whole day together, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I don't care. Whatever you want to do is fine."

"How are you feeling? No more nausea? Throwing up? Dizzy spells?"

"What?" I was so distracted with my thoughts that I could barely focus on what he was saying. "Oh, no, none of that." At the moment I could feel the bile rising to my throat with my nervousness, but I fought the feeling and pushed it away.

He pushed my sleep shirt up and kissed my stomach, not in a sexual way, but in a loving chaste way. "I love your tummy."

"Tummy?" I asked, amused that he would use that particular word.

He shrugged and stuck his tongue in my belly button. "It's all soft and flat for now."

"For now?"

"Well you know-"

There was a knock and the door opened just enough for Rose to stick her head inside of the room. "I think I left my phone on the nightstand."

She gave me _that look_, asking me if everything was okay.

"No, I don't see it," Jasper said, rolling back towards me.

I minutely nodded to her and indicated for her to get the hell out of the room. She threw me a thumbs up and closed the door again.

I wiggled away from Jasper and sat up against the headboard. "Um Jasper, we need to talk about something."

He released a breath he was holding. "I thought maybe we could do this tomorrow, but I guess now is just as good of time as any."

I pushed back the covers and went to the bench at the foot of the bed. I struggled with how to begin, so I just jumped right in head first. "Where were you last night?"

_Faith. Faith. Faith_. I kept mentally repeating as I waited for him to answer.

He sat up, resting his forearms on his knees, and stared at me. "I was working a lead on your case. You know that."

I took a deep breath, expecting the vague answer, and prepared my heart to hear the answers to my next set of questions.

"Were you with Alice last night?"

I expected instant denial, a shouting display of innocence and a call for vindication of wronged accusations. But that is not what I got, and I felt the floor literally fall out from under me. I staggered under the weight of his silence and it took all my energy to stand there and stare at him. He dropped his head in shame and said nothing.

My hands were shaking and I felt the hot tears run down my cheeks. "Please say something," I whispered, pleading.

_Faith. Faith. Faith._

He finally looked up at me. "Yes. I was going to tell you, I swear. But-"

"No!" I screamed, yanking at my hair. "Y-you…p-please…NO! You couldn't…didn't…please…"

"Bella!"

He jumped off the bed reaching for me, but I pushed him away and stepped back.

"You have the nerve to touch me after you've been with her!"

"W-what?"

"You were with that whore last night!"

"Yes, I saw Alice last night. Bella calm down!"

"Don't you fucking tell me to calm down after you cheated on me! Fuck you!"

He grabbed me and shook me. "Bella what the hell are you talking about?"

I slapped at his chest until he released me. "You got sloppy! I found it! I fucking found it you son of a bitch!"

"Bella, please calm down. It's not good for the-"

"What, did you forget who washes your clothes?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He asked angrily.

I went to the foot bench and pulled out his jeans. "You wore these last night?" I threw them at his head.

He caught them, swatting them out of the air, before they hit him. "Yeah, so."

"Look in the pocket."

"What?"

"LOOK IN THE FRONT POCKET!" I screamed at him.

He stuck his hand in one pocket and pulled it out empty, then checked the other one. His eyes widened when he saw what was in his hand.

"Bella, I swear to God this isn't mine." He tossed the jeans and condom wrapper aside and grabbed my hands. "Please baby, believe me," he implored. "I-I d-don't know anything about this. You have to believe me. Please, please…" He fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his head in my stomach. "I love you, and I swear to you that I didn't do this."

I was numb of all emotion, and with an even tone began reciting my evidence to him. "You've been coming home later and later every night."

"I know but-"

"You've always showered and changed clothes before you even get here."

"Bella-"

"How does an empty condom wrapper get in your pants if you didn't use it?"

"It's not mine!" He roared. "I swear to God Bella, please believe me."

"She called me." I pushed him away and stepped back. "She's called me like fifteen times today, ranting on my voicemail about how you've been fucking her for days now." I couldn't hold it in any longer and slid to the floor crying. "Please Jasper, _show_ me that it's not true."

He crawled on his knees to me, cradling my face in his hands. "Yes, I saw Alice last night, but baby, it's not at all what it looks like."

"Then tell me Jasper, what's been going on? Why is she calling me? Why are you not telling me everything?"

He hesitated for a moment before responding. "I wasn't lying about following up on a lead in your case, and I didn't tell you what was going on because I didn't want you or any of the girls to know just in case you were ever questioned about it."

"Ever questioned about what?"

"We've been keeping Riley and questioning him."

"What are you talking about, keeping Riley where and who is 'we'?"

He sat back on his haunches, holding my hand in his. "Emmett and I have been _persuading_ Riley to give up information."

"What do you mean persuading?" I asked, and then it hit me. "Not torture? You've been torturing him?"

He dropped his head. "Yes, and it's a long story-"

"My God, what have you done?" I asked, shocked.

"Please don't get mad," he said quickly. "And please don't hate me, but he wasn't exactly forthcoming with information, so we had to use a bit of force."

"Is he…still alive?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"Of course he is. I was finally able to get the story out of him last night and tonight I had to move him."

"Where?"

"It's not relevant. Just know that Riley is gone."

"What do you mean, gone?"

"I took him to another state and dropped him off."

"But what about Angela?"

"She's safe and well."

"That's why she and Ben left all of sudden the other day!"

"That's part of it. But listen Bells, I've had to shower and change clothes after being with Riley."

"You mean…"

I must have made some sort of disgusted look on my face, because Jasper just nodded and refused to look at me. "Yes, I didn't want to come home looking or smelling like that, so Em-when he went with me-and I would always clean up before coming home."

"But last night…and Alice said…"

"She showed up unexpectedly at my loft last night wanting to talk. That's what I meant by me being with her last night. Nothing happened, I swear it."

"Then why did you look so guilty?"

"Do you remember when you met her, and she kissed me?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember what you said about it later that night?"

I thought for a moment. "No, not really."

"You said that if I ever kissed another woman, then you'd rip my lips off."

"You kissed Alice?"

"No, she kissed me."

I wiped at the tears that refused to quit falling. "Is that all that happened?"

_Faith. Faith. Faith._

"Besides talking, yes."

"Then how did this get in your pocket?" I asked, still slightly angry with him.

"Honestly, I don't know. I can only think that when she hugged me, she planted it in my pocket."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you know how lame that sounds? Why, why would she do that?"

"I know how bad it looks and I know that it sounds like some standard issued man lie, but I have _never_ lied to you Bella. Please, you have to know that."

I did know that.

_Faith. Faith. Faith._

"So she wants you back, that's why she wants me to break up with you?"

"Not exactly," he sighed, running his hands through his hair. "It's a long story Bella."

"Then you'd better start explaining, because I don't appreciate this bitch calling me," I said, furiously remembering all of the graphic details she had gone into explaining how she had fucked my man.

"Baby just calm down," he said, placing his hand over my stomach again.

I pushed his hands away. "Just tell me Jasper."

"Well, you know that Alice and I dated off and on for about three years, and you know that she's a dancer?"

I nodded. "Go on."

"Anyway, she always hung out with her dancer friends going to shows and hanging out at cast parties with them. You know how when something is just your 'thing' and everything else revolves around that and your passion for it?"

I nodded. Until Jasper, science was my 'thing'. I use to spend days upon days locked away from the rest of the world working in my lab. Numbers, equations and chemicals were the only thing that understood me.

He continued. "Well she was like that with dancing. I, of course, didn't understand most of it; hell, the only play I had been to before I met her was the Nutcracker and the only reason I went to that was because Em and I got drunk one night with a bunch of frat guys and we thought it was a porn."

We both laughed, and Jasper waited until I blew my nose before continuing.

"Well, I tried to fit in with her and her crowd. But you know me; I'm cowboy boots and football, not ballet and the theater."

I nodded, agreeing. I loved the down home earthy aura that Jasper had. And while he could converse on any topic and was extremely well read, Jasper was just an everyday guy who loved deeply and would bend over backwards for a friend in need.

"So Alice starts hanging out with one particular dancer, Jane," Jasper continued. "All she could talk about is Jane this and Jane that. At first I thought nothing of it, and even encouraged her at first to hang out with Jane because I saw that her new friend filled a spot in Alice's life that I couldn't.

"Soon, Jane is always around. Whenever I wanted to be with Alice, Jane was coming over, or Alice is going to meet Jane for lunch or something like that. I would give in and never say anything because Alice was happy. So then, I get orders that I'm being sent off for three months for training before being deployed to the Middle East.

"For a while, right before I left, Alice made an effort to make everything about me, about us. She practically dropped Jane like a bad habit. So I leave on good terms with Alice. We spoke often and emailed almost every day while I was away. She even made plans to come visit me on one of my leave weekends, but then I decided to surprise her and went home instead."

"Oh no," I said, dreading what he was going to say next.

"Yeah, let's just say I didn't know Alice swung that way."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry Jasper!"

"I was devastated. I thought that we were going to use the weekend to talk about spending the rest of our lives together. Alice said that it was because Jane understood her, that she inspired her to be a better dancer, and that she was her soul mate or some shit like that."

My heart broke for him and the pain that he obviously felt then, and now as he was remembering how it felt to be lied to and cheated on.

"So she wants to go back the other way or something?" I didn't know the proper terms for going from a heterosexual to a homosexual and then back again. "That's why she's calling me and telling me to break up with you?"

"Not exactly." He said again, taking a deep breath. "Shewantsmysperm," he said really fast.

"What? Say that again."

"She wants my sperm," he said, louder. "She and Jane want to have a baby and they want sperm from someone they know."

"You've got to be kidding me."

He shook his head. "I wish I were. But babe, you gotta believe me. I know how it looks, but I did not sleep with Alice. She's crazy, and she'll try any means of manipulation to get what she wants."

"What about trying to kill me?"

"I thought about that, and I'm not gonna rule it out, but she didn't even know you when all of this with your stalker started. Hell, I hadn't seen her nor did she know that we were together before the night you met her."

"Do you promise me Jasper that this is what's really going on?"

_Faith. Faith. Faith._

"I swear to you Bella, that everything I have just said is the absolute truth."

"Why were you so adamant about me not asking you any questions?"

"What?"

"You said that you didn't want me asking you anything."

"Ugh! I just meant about your case and more specifically, the Riley situation. Torturing someone is not exactly legal you know, and Em and I were just trying to protect you girls in case something went down with the police."

"Oh."

"But babe," he said, with a sacred nervous look on his face and gripping my hands tightly. "I'm not a dangerous man, and I'm not a monster. I would never hurt you or our baby in any way. Tell me you believe that."

"Baby?" I asked, confused. My stomach dropped, and for a second I thought I was going to be sick.

He grinned from ear to ear, hugging me and kissing me all over my face. "I know about the baby, and I'm so happy. I love you more than anything and –"

"Jasper-"

"…and I want you to know that I'll be there through everything. And I'm not just blowing smoke; I mean all of the cravings-

"Jasper stop-"

"…and the Lamaze classes and the late night feedings and the breast feedings and the dirty diapers and…and…and why are you crying?"

Jasper pulled me into his arms as I cried. I was too choked up to speak; he wanted the one thing that I couldn't give him.

"It's gonna be wonderful babe; my baby is having my baby. We'll have to buy a house, or we can stay here if you want. We can get an SUV 'cause I hate those fucking mini vans-oh, I guess I'll have to watch my language from now on-"

"Jasper, I'm not pregnant!"

"What?" he asked, grin momentarily suspended on his face.

"I…I'm…it's not _me_ that's pregnant."

"Yes it is," he said, nodding. "I've got the test thingy." He reached over to the chair and yanked down the jeans he had been wearing when he came home, digging in the front pocket. "See." He pressed the white test wan into my hand, pointing at the tiny screen. "It says 'yes'. I got it out of the garbage can in the bathroom."

"You've been carrying this around in your pocket?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

I was momentarily stunned, and for the second time in an hour my heart broke again. There was no way that this man, who carried a strip of plastic around in his pocket that someone had _peed_ on because he thought that it meant they were having his baby, could ever cheat on me.

I realized then what Jasper had been trying to talk to me about it all morning, and the reason he had been asking about my experiment was because he was concerned for my safety and the safety of what he thought would be our child. I was ashamed that I had doubted him, and mad at myself for not talking to him earlier.

"Rose is pregnant, not me," I cried, worried that my inability to conceive would turn him away.

"B-but b-but you've been sick and throwing up. You've been having nightmares and you were nauseous and snapping at me and…and…"

"I've been sick because I forgot to take my birth control pills two days in a row so I doubled up to make up for it. The extra hormones were too much for my system to handle at once, and it made me sick and moody, crazy really. And I've been having nightmares because I've been stressed out with what's going on between us."

"Are you sure? Because if you missed those pills…"

"Rose made me take one of the tests too, because she thought the same thing. Mine was negative."

When Rose and I took those tests, I knew that mine would come out negative. I was upset- heartbroken really- because I knew that it was a good possibility that I could never give Jasper a gift as sweet as a child. It had made me physically ill thinking about how much it would disappoint him to see Rose's stomach swell with a growing baby and to know that I could not do that for him.

"But I heard you talking to Carlisle; you were making an appointment to see him tomorrow."

I held up my right arm. "Baby, it's an appointment to get my cast off."

He dropped his head, clearly disappointed. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," I cried.

"No, it's okay."

But it was not okay. Jasper deserved to be with someone who could give him the things he wanted. "I-I may…never be able to…to get pregnant. So I'll understand if you want to…to…donate to…Alice-"

"What?"

"I mean, I see how important it is to you and since I can't do this for you and she can, then-"

"No! Don't even say it!" He forced my chin up and looked into my eyes. "It. Does. Not. Matter. To. Me. You got it? It doesn't matter. I love you, and you love me, and that's what matters. If we never have kids, then that just means that we can always walk around the house naked," he laughed, eyes watering with unshed tears. "It means that when we want an afternoon delight, we can have one in any room in the house. Okay?"

"But-"

"No buts. Yeah, it would be great, and I'm not gonna lie and say that I'm not sad about it, but it does not matter," he repeated again. "You are the most important person in the world to me, and one day it _will_ happen. It's not impossible, it just means that we'll have more fun trying than other couples."

"I love you Jasper, and I'm sorry that I've been acting like such a bitch and-"

He kissed me, pulling me close and running his fingers through my hair. "It's my fault too."

"No it's not. I seem to always be making things harder for you."

He laughed. "Sometimes, yes, but I should have been clearer about what I was doing. And I should have told you about my history with Alice a long time ago. I'm sorry for letting her kiss me."

"Next time, I'll rip _her_ lips off. Okay?"

"There won't be a next time. I promise."

"What are we going to do about her?"

"I don't know babe. I'll think of something." He kissed my forehead and rested his chin on the top of my head. "It's late, and you look exhausted."

"Can we just…sit here like this for a while?"

"Yeah babe, anything you want."

**JPOV**

I was so fucking happy to finally be done with the whole Riley bullshit that I didn't know whether to dance a jig or to go home and try to seduce my pregnant girlfriend. Every time I thought about Bella being pregnant I wanted to squeal like a little girl.

It was late when I finally got home and I had to wake up Rose, who was sleeping on my side of the bed. Bella looked so adorable sleeping in my shirt and when I could finally get into bed beside her, I couldn't keep my hands off of her stomach and our child.

I ran my hands across her firm abdominal muscles, tracing the outline of our growing baby and reveling in the fact that in a few short months we would have a tiny human that depended on us for everything. Was I ready to for the challenge? It didn't matter, together we would succeed.

I could tell that Bella wanted to talk about something and even though I wanted to wait until the next day, it was better to just get it all out now so that we could have a peaceful sleep and a good day tomorrow.

Then she started asking me about where I had been, and while I really didn't want to tell her, I knew that I was gonna have to come clean about what I had been doing with Riley and the fact that I had seen Alice the night before. What happened next left me practically speechless. Bella started ranting and raving about me being with Alice and asking me if I had cheated on her.

At first, I didn't know how take what she was saying, and then she threw my jeans at me, demanding that I look in the pockets. I was wondering what my jeans had to do with anything when I pulled the empty condom wrapper out of the pocket.

I was shocked, stunned and getting angrier by the second. Where ever the condom had come from, it damn sure wasn't mine. I could understand why she was mad and how it looked. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would be ranting and raving too. But how do I explain to Bella, without making it seem like I was lying, that the condom wasn't mine?

I told her why Alice and I had broken up, what Alice wanted from me and that she had kissed me. I speculated that Alice had planted the condom wrapper in my pocket when she hugged me, solely to cause problems between Bella and I. But what Alice didn't know, and rightly so because she and I had never had the type of relationship that Bella and I shared, was that above everything, Bella and I had a solid foundation based on love, trust and mutual respect. There was _nothing_ we couldn't accomplish together.

Bella believed me, and it wasn't that she was just saying that she did, because I knew the difference. She believed me from her heart. Something like this, one misunderstanding, had the potential to ruin our relationship, but Bella and I were stronger together than Alice had anticipated.

I was beyond angry at Alice for what she had tried to do. Even if I had never met Bella, there was no way that I would consider being a co-parent with Alice. That would be a prison sentence that would tie me to her for life, and I was not trying to put myself through that living hell.

And now I had to find a diplomatic way to take care of Alice. I say diplomatic, because Alice was all kinds of crazy-–it took me a while to figure that one out-but I didn't want to have to deal with Bella's stalker and a fucked up nut job like Alice at the same time. We would never get any rest that way!

While Bella slept curled underneath me I allowed myself a moment to grieve the baby that I thought we were having. Bella was so scared that I wouldn't want her because she _might_ not be able to have a child. That was the farthest thing from the truth, and in fact, I wanted and loved her more now than ever before.

Besides, with someone waiting in the lurch to kill Bella, this was really not the optimal time to be having a baby anyway. She was already stressed out enough, and that on top of keeping her hormones in balance could possibly be detrimental to her health and the baby's. No, after considering all of that, it would be best to just wait. We had our whole lives ahead of us and there was no need to rush anything.

I thought about the three carat diamond ring that I had locked in the safe in Emmett's office earlier, and while there was no baby-yet, because I knew that my boys were excellent swimmers and that one of them one day would be the golden ticket-that didn't stop me from wanting to marry Bella. I just had more time now to plan a sufficient proposal.

**XXXX**

"Baby, what are you doing?" I asked, slightly breathless.

"I'm trying to make love to my boyfriend," Bella said, nibbling on my neck.

She had her leg thrown over my hip and her left hand down the front of my basketball shorts. I was caught between waking up and trying to figure out if I was dreaming. When her fingers ran across the head of my cock, I figured out that I was most definitely awake.

My cock twitched and I grabbed her hips, rolling over on top of her. "Well let me help you," I said, grinding my erection into her.

She hissed at the contact against her sensitive center, and arched her back, fingernails digging into my shoulders. I could smell her arousal, and feel how wet she was through her panties.

"Please," she whispered, her lips grazing my jaw.

I slid my hands up her thighs, and hooked my thumbs into the hem of her panties. "Please what?" I asked, squeezing her ass cheeks.

"I…want to…feel you," she moaned.

I ran a thumb up and down her center, spreading the wetness over her clit. Her breath caught and her body quivered beneath me. "Like that?'

"Yes," she panted, as I fingered her clit underneath her panties.

"Spread your legs for me baby," I whispered in her ear, tugging on the lobe with my teeth.

"Jasper…"

"Yes?" My dick was leaking pre-cum like a sieve, but I wanted to pleasurably torture her first. I made circles over her clit with my thumb, and played at her entrance, teasing her.

"Oh God…" she whimpered, her head lolling back as she gripped the sheets and arched her back. "Please…"

I captured her mouth with my own, her hot slick tongue reminding my dick of a hotter, slicker, and sweeter place below; but I was nowhere near finished tormenting her. I could see her perky tits through the cotton of my sleep shirt that she was wearing, and I wanted a taste.

"Bella," I said, continuing my thumb circles as I licked her neck. "Unbutton your shirt." I had both hands busy, one on her clit and the other on her ass.

I pumped two fingers inside of her. "Jasper…oh God!"

"C'mon baby, unbutton your shirt." She didn't just unbutton it, she ripped the material apart. I grinned at the sight of her bare breasts, a light sheen of sweat coating her nipples. "Touch your tits for me baby."

"I don't…I… tell me...how."

She was gasping and shaking, ready to cum.

But I was not ready for her to cum yet. "Take your fingers and work your nipples."

Bella took her breasts into her hands and caressed them, running her fingertips along the underside of them. She pinched and rolled her nipples as I continued pumping my fingers into her. I could feel the seams of her panties stretching underneath my hand, and the smell of her arousal was driving me crazy. I wanted to taste her.

"Keep going baby," I said, and pulled back; she protested at the loss of friction. "Yeah, that's it, pinch your nipples again." I quickly yanked her panties down and stood beside the bed to step out of my shorts.

What she did next killed me—she fucking slid her hand down her body and touched her clit!

I nearly fucking came, standing there in a daze watching her touch herself, working her clit and nipples in synch. She moaned my name and I fell back onto the bed between her legs. I spread her thighs and licked, long and hard as she continued working her clit.

"God Bella, so fuckin' good…"

"Please Jasper," she moaned.

With that I knew that I couldn't wait any longer, and pushed inside of her. I damn near fell apart. It had been more than a week, and her pussy was tight and slick and wet around me.

But I didn't want this to be about fucking. We had been through too much in the last few days-hell, hours-that I just wanted to reconnect with her, to be a part of and inside of her in this simple humanistic way.

"How does it feel?" I asked, not moving. "Tell me how my cock feels inside of you."

Bella arched her back, bringing me deeper inside of her warmth. "Hard…and thick," she gasped, screwing her eyes shut. "I need…more." I touched her nipple with the very tip of my tongue, a touch so soft that I was unsure she even felt it until she ran her fingers through my hair to the base of my head, pulling me down again. "Move Jasper, let me feel you."

"Put your legs around me baby." She wrapped her long beautiful legs around my waist and I began moving inside of her, long slow strokes that had her writhing all around me. "So good…you feel so fuckin' good."

But we both needed more. I doubled my stride, going deeper, faster and harder. Bella met me thrust for thrust, grinding her hips upward, her thighs slapping against my pelvis. I could feel her getting close, her sweet pussy walls were tightening around my cock and her breathing changed.

"Is that it baby?" I asked, pressing my forehead against hers.

"Right there…right fuckin' there…don't stop..."

"That's my spot." I claimed her mouth, thrusting my tongue in synch with my hip thrusts. "J's spot."

"I can't hold it…I'm…cumming!" She screamed, her nails sinking into my skin as she arched wildly beneath me.

I couldn't stop. She felt so good and it had been so long. "Nothing…will ever…come…between us!" I said through clenched teeth, emphasizing each word with a thrust. I continued moving, in and out and circling my hips, through her orgasm, instantly sending her into another one as I came hard, roaring out my release.

**XXXX**

"We're okay, right B?" I asked, caressing the back of her hand that was draped over my shoulder. I was lying in between her legs, my back to her chest, and we were watching TV while it rained and sleeted outside. When she didn't answer immediately I turned slightly to look back up at her. Silent tears were streaming down her face. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"I wish I could say that I didn't, but a piece of my heart doubted you. I…I was so scared that I was gonna lose you, and it would have been my fault because I didn't talk to you about it before it got to this point, and then I freaked out, and...and…."

"Babe, calm down." I wiped her tears with my thumbs and pulled her closer. "It's over now. We both messed up and the only thing we can do now is to learn from our mistakes."

"You don't understand…I need to tell you something."

_What the hell else did she possibly have to tell me?_ _Hadn't we had enough drama for one night?_ I thought to myself. "Okay, what?"

"I've been seeing a therapist once a week now. Her name is Dr. Dwyer and her office is on the twenty-five floor of McCarty Enterprises."

I shifted positions so that she was sitting straddle across my lap. "That's great Bella, but why do you make it seem like a bad thing?"

"Because I didn't communicate with you, and that's part of the reason I've been going to her. So it must not be working. What if she can't fix me?"

I laughed before I could stop myself.

"It's not funny Jasper!"

"I know, I know, but Bella, sometimes you're so smart that you miss the obvious." I tucked the stray wisps of hair behind her ear. "How long have you been going to therapy?"

"About three weeks now. I didn't tell you, 'cause I kinda wanted to be fixed first, and then tell you how."

"So you've had three sessions and all of a sudden you think you should be cured for something that you've been dealing with for oh, say twenty odd years?"

"But-"

"No buts, babe. Therapy can take years before a patient has a break through. With all of the shit you've been through, I'm proud of you for even going. Just recognize that you've got a lot of work to do in order to get better, and don't give it up, okay?"

She nodded, tracing the outline of my dog tags with her finger. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

I kissed her slowly, running my hands up and down her torso underneath the shirt she was still wearing. She shivered as my hands found their favorite resting place. "You'll never have to find out."

JW twitched and Bella smiled wickedly, taking him in her hand. She pushed herself up and slowly lowered her hips, a long sigh of satisfaction escaping as she took me inside of her.

"Bella," I hissed.

"I love it when you say my name," she panted, grabbing the headboard for leverage as she moved up and down over me.

If this was how we were going to spend our day together, then I was certainly going to be a happy man.

"Jasper! Jasper!"

I heard my name being screamed, but it wasn't Bella screaming it. We were just getting to the good part when the bedroom door flew open and Rose ran in, wringing her hands and clearly upset.

"Rose, what the hell?" Bella screamed.

"Urgh! Rose!"

"Sorry, sorry!" She turned her back while Bella and I scrambled to cover up. "I'm so sorry, but I just fucked up big time," she said, still facing the wall.

"You don't say," Bella snapped.

"What could you have possibly done?" I asked angrily, wrapping the sheet around my waist. Rose had previously gotten an eye full of JW and I didn't want her to get another; she never let me live it down the first time.

"I accidently buzzed Edward in through the gate."

* * *

**A/N: A lot of you were thinking that Bella was preggers, and sorry to disappoint, but with someone out to kill her, would it really be safe or wise? Poor Jasper's got enough to deal with already and now Edward is on his way! So what does Edward want? Revenge? Is he out for blood? Eddie boy is not talking to me right now because he's still mad that Bella locked him in that basement. So I have no idea what he's up to. If you got any suggestions, I'll gladly entertain them, 'cause I got nothing right now. **

**Reviews and suggestions make me write faster!**

**Thanks to all those who read, review and those who have added me to your alerts/favorites list!**


	24. Chapter 24

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 24**

****I don't know if alert emails went out for Chapter 23, but go back and read that one first if you didn't get the alert last week!****

**Thanks a mil Cullen818 and JamesRamsey for going all out Dom and beta'ing this into submission!**

****I've been forgetting to mention this, but if you are under 18, you ARE NOT allowed to read this story! It has an M rating for a reason!****

**By now you know that I don't own it!**

**Thanks to Glee68 for the Em/Rose date idea.**

**Okay, so this one is kinda a filler chapter, but parts of it are important. I still need your support though, so leave me some good lovin' below.**

* * *

**JPOV**

"You did what?" I yelled.

"The intercom buzzed, and when I answered it Edward said that he needed to talk to Bella. I told him to pretty much go fuck himself, and when I went to hit the off button, I accidentally hit the button to let him in."

"Good God Rose," I said, holding onto the sheet with one hand and running the other through my hair. "What did he say exactly?"

"Just that he wanted to speak to Bella," she said, clearly upset over her mistake.

"Don't stress out about it, okay?" I grabbed my jeans off the floor and tugged them on underneath the sheet. "Did you happen to see if there was anyone else in the car with him?"

"I couldn't tell; the window was only low enough for me to see his eyes."

Bella came out of the bathroom, hastily dressed in a pair of jeans and an old tee shirt. I thought about asking her to stay upstairs and out of the way, but I knew that getting her to comply was out of the question. I tossed the bed sheet aside, crammed my feet into my boots, and not bothering with a shirt, slipped on my grey zippered hoodie that I had carelessly thrown over the back of the chair the night before.

The doorbell rang.

"Jasper?" Bella asked, a frightened look in her eyes.

I knew that Emmett, Char and Peter had gone to work, and should it come down to an incident, that left me with Bella, Rose and her baby to protect, alone. If Edward had come unaccompanied, then there wouldn't be too much to worry about. But, Edward never traveled alone.

"Look, if he wants to talk to me, I'll talk to him," Bella said.

"No, absolutely not," I said, pulling out my forty-five from between the mattress and box spring- where I always kept it while we slept- and rechecked the clip. I tucked it down the front of my pants, purposely letting the butt of it show in front of the hoodie. I hoped that it looked intimidating enough.

"But-"

The doorbell rang again.

"I said no, Bella. I'm not putting you or Rose in any danger." I kissed her quickly, pressing the small twenty-two caliber gun into her hand. After I had rescued her from Edward the last time, I had marched her down to the lower half of the back yard and taught her the basics of shooting a gun. We had only had three or four lessons, but Bella was a quick study and the twenty-two was not difficult to handle. "Tuck it in the back like I showed you."

She tucked the small pistol in the back waist band of her jeans and I checked to make sure that it was secure and not showing.

"What the hell Bella?" I asked, in a whisper when I noticed that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

She shrugged with an innocent evil gleam in her eye. "What, I didn't have time to put on any."

I groaned, reminding JW that now was not the time to get excited.

"What's your plan?" Rose asked, as we headed down the stairs.

Plan? I didn't have a plan other than to not get killed and keep the three of them safe. But of course, I couldn't tell them that.

"I'm gonna go outside and talk to him. You two _stay inside_. Got it?"

"But what if he tries something?" Bella asked.

"Let me handle it. Whatever happens, let me handle it." I motioned for them to stay back as I pulled the window curtain aside and peeped out. I wanted to see who he had brought with him before I stepped out into the unknown.

His black Mercedes was parked in the driveway, but he was nowhere to be seen. I checked the other window for a broader view of the front, but all that I could see was his car. I didn't like the prickly sensation on the back of my neck.

"He's not out there."

"What? Are you sure?" Rose asked, coming to look out the window for herself.

"His car is there, but he's not." I pulled my gun and flipped off the safety, all while looking out the window as if he would magically appear out of thin air.

"What do you want us to do?" Bella asked me.

"Go upstairs to the panic-"

"JASPER!" Bella screamed.

"Looking for me?"

I whirled around to see Edward seemingly pop up out of nowhere behind Bella and grab her.

_How the fuck had he gotten in the house?_

I started towards her, but was immediately knocked down and then shoved back against the wall, held there by a tight hand around my throat. The guy holding me must have been the biggest, strongest motherfucker I had ever seen, easily topping seven feet tall with arms the size of my waist. I stopped kicking out and punching him because I quickly realized that it was hurting me more than him.

"Edward let him go!" Bella said, struggling to get away from him.

"You really should have remembered to remove the hidden key." He shook the plastic fake rock that held the spare key making it rattle, and then tossed at me. It hit the wall near my head and bounced to the floor. Up until that point I didn't even know that there _was_ a hidden key. "And you call yourself a bodyguard."

"What do you want Masen?" I asked angrily.

"I just want to talk to Bella." He said, struggling to hold on to her. She was putting up a pretty good fight trying to get away from him.

"Ever heard of a phone?" Rose asked, stepping forward.

Another one of Edwards goon's stepped forward toward her, as if to restrain her. I didn't want her putting herself in any danger; there were two of them now. "Rose, get back!" I yelled at her. "If you fucking hurt either of them Masen-"

"You'll what, shoot me?" He laughed. "Rocky there can snap your neck in less than two seconds."

"Let him go Edward! I have nothing left to say to you," Bella said, punching and kicking him.

"On the contrary love, I have a lot I need to say to you. Come along, we'll use brother dear's office."

He drug her, kicking and screaming, down the hallway and out of sight.

**BPOV**

"Will you stop fighting me?" Edward said, pushing me into Emmett's office and slamming the door behind him. "I really just want to talk to you."

"What the hell Edward? You break into my house and threaten us just so that you can just talk to me?" I asked angrily. I contemplated pulling out the gun Jasper had given me and shooting Edward on the spot. The only problem with that was that I was sure his fuckin'_ giants_ would reciprocate and hurt Jasper and Rose.

"Technically, I didn't break in," he said, pulling my small twenty-two out of his pocket and emptying the bullets into the palm of his hand. "If Jasper is going to arm you, then tell him to at least get you a_ real _gun."

"How did you…"

He grinned, handing me the weapon. "You're too easy to distract darling."

I snatched the gun out of his hand and placed it on Emmett's desk. "If you hurt either of them-"

"You'll what, punch me? Kick me with the toe of your stiletto?" He laughed, and perched on the edge of the desk. "I'm not my simple minded sister Isabella."

"She should not have come to McCarty Enterprises, and you're _idiots_ had better not hurt Jasper or Rose!"

"I agree, she should not have confronted you, but I handled it. Tanya will not be bothering you again. And relax, Jasper and Rose are safe."

"If that's all that you wanted to tell me, then you could have just called me." I turned and yanked open the door. One of his _Soldatos_ was standing directly in front of the door, blocking my exit. He had to have been at least two feet taller than me, and probably outweighed me more than a hundred pounds. "Get out of my way!" I screamed, pounding on his chest with my fist. He didn't move a muscle; it was almost like pounding into a brick wall.

"Isabella, stop acting like a spoiled brat," Edward chastised, pulling me back into the room and slamming the door again.

"You've got some fucking nerve Edward, coming into my house and acting like you have the right to be here!"

"I have more of a right to be here than that leech you've been fucking!" He yelled, hooking his fingers into the belt loop of my jeans and hauling me toward him. "God, he's even marked you." He touched the spot on my neck where Jasper had bitten me a few hours earlier.

"Get out! Get out of my sight, get out of my house and get the fuck out of my life!" I screamed at him, pushing against his embrace.

"I can't!"

"Yes you can, walk out the fucking door and never come back!"

"I can't because I love you so much that it hurts Bella." He released me and stumbled over to the sofa, literally falling down on it before burying his face in his hands. "I finally get it Bella. I get it," he said softly.

I didn't know how to react to his behavior; I had never seen Edward act like this before. He always had on the suave, tough-as-nails-I'm-the-fucking-Crime boss attitude, and this was definitely out of character for him.

"What do you finally _get _Edward?" I asked, taking a cautious step toward him. I was weary of getting too close to him should he be faking.

He looked up at me with watery eyes. In all the time I had known Edward, I had never seen him tear up before, and I had damn sure never seen him this raw with any emotion other than rage, anger and over bearing cockiness.

"I was in that basement for a day and a half, and it was the worst time of my life. I can't even begin to imagine what you went through," he said, running a finger along the seam of the leather sofa. "I asked mother to tell me what happened and she told me about the month she and Mrs. Cullen spent helping you to heal. I…I should have been there for you."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I said nothing and let him continue.

"She said that those men had beaten you, almost raped you and had left you lying in the dark, in the cold and in filth."

He looked up at me, asking for confirmation. I nodded.

"She also said that you had horrible nightmares where you would wake up screaming, and when Emmett tried to comfort you, you would try to fight him off but you didn't have enough strength, so you would beg him not to kill you."

"I don't remember much about that, but Rose and Em have said something similar."

"I didn't know."

"I tried to tell you."

"I know." He extended his hand toward me, and I hesitantly accepted, lacing my fingers through his. He then kissed and rubbed his cheek across the back of it. "I'm sorry. I know that it means nothing to you now, but I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me, I'm sorry that we stopped communicating and I'm sorry that I did things to make you hate me."

"I don't hate you Edward." It was true, I didn't hate Edward, I just hated the things he had –or had not-done. "But you've changed so much."

"I have different responsibilities now, things that made me change to be the person I am now."

"Really Edward, 'cause we all have choices, and you could have chosen differently."

"It's neither here nor there Bella. What is done is done."

"Why did you feel the need to come here and tell me this?"

He shrugged. "It's just something I had to do."

"But why like this, breaking into my house and bringing your goons with you?"

He gave me a faint smile. "First of all, would you have even accepted a phone call from me?"

"No probably not."

"Exactly."

"But you couldn't have figured that we'd let you in the gate either."

"No, but that's why I brought the guys with me. We were prepared to use force."

"Are you serious?"

"I do have a reputation to uphold Bella." He sighed; running his hands through is already messy hair. "We'd better go. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry, and that even though I don't like that you're with _him_, there's not much I can do about it anymore."

"Umm…thank you for apologizing to me."

He grabbed me then, hugging me as if it were the last time he would ever see me. And truthfully, beyond social functions and the occasional bump into while running errands, it probably was. I hugged him back, not with as much gusto, but nonetheless, a hearty, back pounding hug anyway.

We heard a thump, a scuffling noise and Jasper shouting my name on the other side of the door. I broke away from Edward and ran toward the door. He burst through just as I was about to open it, gun drawn and bleeding from a cut over his eye. Edward's guard, the one who had been standing watch at the door, was in the floor rolling around in pain.

"Jasper!"

He grabbed me with one arm, shoving me behind his back with his gun aimed at Edward. "Baby, are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

He turned slightly to the side to see me, but not taking his eyes off of Edward. "Are you sure?"

"Look, I'm just gonna go," Edward said, as he side stepped out of the office, making sure to keep a wide perimeter between himself and Jasper's gun. "You know where to find me if you ever wanna get rid of this loser Bella."

Edward kicked his guard, yelling at him to get up off of the floor until the man rolled to a kneeling position and staggered to his feet. The other guard grabbed his friend and all three made their way out the door, Edward screaming in Italian behind them.

"How did you get away from him?" I asked Jasper.

Rose grinned and flipped her switchblade closed before high fiving Jasper. "Don't ever under estimate the power of the shiv Bella." She yawned. "Too much excitement for this knocked up lady; I'm going to take a nap."

The gash above Jasper's eye was bleeding pretty badly so I took him up stairs to the bathroom to clean the wound. I hopped up onto the counter and pulled his head down so that I could see the wound better.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jasper asked, running his hands up and down my arms and then my back, checking for injuries.

"He didn't hurt me Jazz." I dabbed at his wound with and alcohol swab. He flinched and hissed at the stinging sensation. "It doesn't look deep enough for stitches." I applied an antiseptic ointment and searched the first aid kit for small butterfly bandages.

"What did Edward want?" His fingers played with the buttons on my jeans.

"To apologize."

"To apologize? Did he say what for exactly?" He popped the buttons open.

"I guess locking him up caused him to have some sort of epiphany, 'cause he said that he finally got it."

"Finally got what?"

"He said that he…what the hell are you doing?" I asked him. It looked like he was trying to wiggle my pants down, but I wasn't certain, so I felt that asking him was a better option than wondering.

"I know you're trying to tell me something, and I swear to God I'm listening, but you _are_ sittin' here with no panties on, and well…if you could just take your pants off and spread your legs…I'm an excellent multitasker," he said, his pants already down around his ankles. He didn't have any underwear on either and his cock was standing at full attention waiting on me.

I thought about it for a quick second and laughed. "Oh, okay."

**XXXXX**

While the working world was going on about their business outside of the gates of the McCarty house, my work was going on inside. Emmett hired a team of construction workers to modify the outside garage for my lab. But due to the upcoming holiday, it would take a little longer than I liked for the work to be completed.

I had finished all of the work I could do without a lab, research and editing the countless number of papers on our results thus far, so I turned my attention to making sure the house was immaculate for our visitor, Jasper's mother. I was nervous and damn near sick every time I thought about her coming to visit. The woman hated me.

Jasper and Peter each called their mother at least once a week and during the rare occasions I would answer the phone when she had called to the house, she would cut me off and ask to speak to either of her sons or Char. Me, she hated, but Char she loved like the daughter she never had. I had no clue as to why she hated me, and when I mentioned it to Jasper, all he could say was that I probably had just misunderstood her and that she was the sweetest and kindest woman that he had ever known.

There was nothing that I could do about Mrs. Whitlock, and what Jasper deemed as our misunderstandings, until she got here for me to talk with her about it. I figured that it would either be one helluva show down, or we would become friends.

In the meantime, Jasper had reassigned another one of his men to my security detail. Even though Jasper described Paul as being quick tempered and at times extremely volatile, I found him playful and fun to be around. He shared my love of the Sci Fi channel, and so we easily meshed well with each other.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

I jumped about two feet when I heard and then felt Jasper's hand on my shoulder. Rose and I were huddled over a box on the floor of the foyer.

"Dammit Jazz; don't sneak up on us like that."

"Yeah, sneaking up on a pregnant lady only makes her have to go pee," Rose said, getting up off the floor.

"Has she told Em yet?" Jasper asked, watching Rose run off down the hallway to the nearest bathroom.

"Nope, not yet," I said, focusing on what I was doing.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because she doesn't want him wanting her only because of the baby. She wants him to want her for her."

"He already does," Jasper argued.

I agreed with Jasper, and I thought Rose had an obligation to tell Emmett about his child as well. I had even told her that, but the decision of when and where to tell Em wasn't up to me. I shrugged. "I'm stayin' the hell out of that one."

"Yeah, but if it were me, I would want to know. Sorry…" He said, seeing the pained look on my face.

I waved it away, he didn't need to keep apologizing. "It's okay babe."

He peered over my shoulder into the box. "What is that?"

I grinned up at him. "It's _Bella 2.0."_

"You say that like it should be obvious. What the hell is a _Bella 2.0_? And isn't _Bella 1.0_ already enough to have to deal with?" he joked.

"Ain't that the damn truth," Rose agreed, laughing as she came back from the bathroom.

"Shut it, both of you. It's an URPA."

"It's a what-a?" he asked, confused.

"Unmanned Robotic Personal Assistant," I explained.

"It's a robot?" He asked.

"Well, look who finally caught up?" Rose said.

Jasper ignored her, but flipped her the finger before kneeling down on the floor next to us. "What are you about to do with _Bella 2.0_?"

"There's a box in the drive way. I'm gonna open it," I said, matter of factly.

"What box?"

I shrugged. "Char said that there was a box in front of the gates when she and Peter tried to leave. They changed their mind about leaving because it could be a bomb, and they didn't want to drive past it." Jasper looked at me like I was crazy. Up until that point I had been too eager to pull _Bella 2.0_ out of storage and get her fired up to worry about what might actually be in the box. As soon as I told Jasper that it might be a bomb, I panicked a little. Someone was not only trying to kill me, but possibly _all_ of us with a bomb. "Oh, I didn't think about it like that."

I looked over at Rose. Apparently she hadn't thought about it like that either. Jasper nodded.

"When did all of this happen?"

"Char and Peter came back in about fifteen minutes ago," Rose said. "She said it was there then."

Jasper got up and opened the front door. About ten feet beyond the closed gates was a medium sized white box. He closed the front door and came back to our huddle.

"Where is Peter?"

"I dunno, he said he was going to find you," I said, distracted with trying to secure the battery cover back on.

"So how does this thing work?"

"Its voice activated for navigational directions, and runs on three nine volt batteries. If the voice activation fails, then there's a remote." I said pulling it out of the box. "The remote works the extra tools attached to her 'hand'." I pointed out the microphone on the remote and the various tools that were in _Bella 2.0's_ 'hand'.

"I've never seen anything like this before. Where did you buy it?"

Rose laughed. "You can't buy them anywhere. At least not something like _this _one."

He looked at Rose and then looked at me. "You _made_ this?"

I nodded. "It was the summer I turned twelve; Em had dad send me to a two-week summer camp for science and math. My teachers were jerks-"

"That means that Bella knew more than they did and they put her out of class for constantly correcting them," Rose interrupted to explain.

"The man couldn't do a simple mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics to save his life. Any Associate Professor should be able to explain how mathematical manipulations of the wave function usually involve the bra-ket notation, and requires an understanding of complex numbers and linear functionals."

They both stared at me for a second and then Jasper kissed me. His hands had moved to the front of my shirt and he was about to have me undressed in another second. The sound of Rose yelling at the both of us brought us back around. I had gone off on a physics tangent, forgetting how much Jazz liked to hear me speak science geek.

"Dammit you two! We cannot have another pantry incident right in the middle of the fucking foyer!"

The day before Jasper had caught me bent over, cleaning out the pantry, and well let's just say that Rose was not happy about it until we sterilized every surface and swore to her that no food had been contaminated in our copulations.

"Damn baby, that was fucking hot, say it again."

"No! Dammit Bella, cut that shit out!"

"Sorry Rosie." We apologized in unison, giggling.

"Anyway," I said, taking up the story again. "The teacher sent me to detention for the day, and I found all of these parts in an old box. After the five minutes it took me to complete the so called Challenge work they gave me," I rolled my eyes, "I made this. Of course, I added the voice feature and the tools later on."

"Does it work?"

Now it was my turn to look at him like he was crazy.

"Geez, sorry for asking." He apologized. "So I assume we're gonna use _Bella 2.0_ to open the box?"

"Yep. And then she's gonna take a digital picture inside so that we know what's in there." Rose held up the wireless monitor to the camera that I had just attached so that we could get a live feed from the camera mounted on top of _Bella 2.0's_ head.

"Okay, so show me what I need to do."

"Hey Sherlock, it's voice activated for a reason," Rose reminded him.

I shrugged. "It will only work for my voice. I used to use it to steal money out of Em's wallet when we were little so that we could go to the movies. It was payback for him sending me to that damn camp."

"Hey, what are these pictures of?" Jasper asked, digging around in the box.

"Oh, those are group shots and candid's of everybody that attended camp that summer," I said, looking over at the packet of pictures he was referring to.

"Do you recognize some of these people?"

"Mmm, I guess I could recall some of them if I sat down and thought about it, why?"

"What kind of camp did you say this was?"

"A camp for geeks and nerds," Rose said, snorting with laughter.

I rolled my eyes. "Whateva Rose!" I turned back to Jasper. "It was a physics and math camp. But you could hardly call it educational with what all they were _not_ teaching us. I mean, the topics on their curriculum were rudimentary at best. For example, we spent a whole _day_ so called learning about Newton's laws of gravity. I mean, come on people, what true advanced science and math camp would start out going over something _so_ elementary. And don't even get me started on the—"

"Okay, okay Bella," Jasper said, cutting off my rant. "What I was trying to get at was do you still have contact with some of these people?"

"Probably not, why?"

"Because if you went on and on about how inadequate the camp was while you were there, it probably pissed someone off enough to make them want to still kill you even now," Rose stated rather bluntly. "Listening to you rattle on about it now sure makes _me_ want to kill you."

I ignored Rose's jib. "Oh. Really? I never really thought about that before."

Jasper and Rose both nodded, exchanging knowing looks.

I thought for a moment. "I guess I could take a look at them later, but remember, I spent more time in detention than I did with the actual group."

Jasper bundled the pictures back up and set them aside. "Still, it may be a good idea to take a look at them."

The three of us bundled up in jackets, scarves and hats before going outside. I rechecked the battery connections and turned the camera on.

_Bella 2.0_ took off at about the speed of a toy remote control car. I did several test turns with my voice navigating it for practice. It had been a long time since she had seen the light of day, but she ran as good as new with the new batteries.

Once she approached the box, we noticed that the package was taped. It seemed odd that a bomb would be taped, but I didn't really know much about bombs and didn't take the time to stop to think about it either. It took several attempts to direct her in cutting the tape on the sides and then a quite bit more maneuvering to get the tape on top cut.

The small Swiss army blade had been Rosie's idea after I brought _Bella 2.0_ home that summer. She said that her foster dad had carried a small pocketknife wherever he went, and that it always seemed to come in handy. Now, more than fifteen years later, I was glad that we had made that slight modification to her.

It took another minute or two to get the box flaps to stay up and I had to extend her head up and tilt the lens down so that _Bella 2.0_ could get a good peek inside with her camera.

Jasper, Rose and I stood huddled with our heads together over the tiny monitor in Rose's hand; our attention was squarely focused on the three and half inch LCD screen. It almost seemed as if we timed it. All three of our heads popped up at the same time and we looked at each other in disbelief.

"Oh shit," Rose said.

**XXXXX**

"Babe, would you please stop fidgeting with your dress. You look fabulous," Jasper said, taking my nervous and shaking hands into his own.

I was having dinner with Maria Whitlock for the first time after meeting her, and I was a little more than nervous about it. Jasper and Peter both had been telling me all day long that I needed just to calm down and chill out about everything, but as soon as she had stepped off the plane- two days earlier than expected I might add-I had been a ball of nervous energy.

"My boobs aren't hanging out too much are they?" I asked, trying to poke them back into my dress.

"Are you kidding me, I can't see them at all," Jasper said, pulling the fabric of my bodice away from my body and looking down the front of my dress. "Oh, there my beauties are. Heelloo babies."

I swatted his hands away. "Cut it out."

He laughed. "C'mon babe, you look great. Let's go."

Maria Whitlock was a tiny brunette with a soft musical voice that could instantly crack like a whip that would cut you to the core. I had already been a personal eye witness to that whipping and cracking voice when we picked her up at the airport. She "politely" put the airline agent in charge of modifying her return flight home, in his place. I thought the man was going to cry. Sweet and kind my ass, she was the fucking devil incarnate if you asked me.

"Oh, don't you look lovely," Maria said, sour expression on her upturned pinched face as she looked me up and down.

I thought she looked constipated, but buttoned my lips before it slipped out.

Jasper squeezed my hand in encouragement.

I was refusing to let this woman get me down. "Thank you Maria."

"That's Mrs. Whitlock to you," she corrected, turning her back to me when Peter and Char came in through the back door. "Char darling, what a lovely dress!"

"Thank you Mrs. Whitlock."

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Maria, dearie," she jokingly chastised.

"Don't let it bother you," Jasper whispered in my ear as he helped me slip my coat on. "She's always been kinda hard on our girlfriends."

"Really, 'cause to me it looks like she's found a new BFF in Char," I said, nodding to the pair of them, arms hooked together and whispering to each other.

"I'll have a talk with her later. Just ignore it for now."

Dinner was, for lack of a better word, painful. I think I would have rather been tied up and tortured-–okay, that's slightly an exaggeration but the sentiment was the same-than to sit across the table from Maria Whitlock and listen to her snide and snippy remarks to everything that I said. If she wasn't ignoring me, she was cutting me off when I was speaking.

I kept telling myself that it didn't matter that I wasn't on her favorite persons list, and that Jasper loved me no matter what his mother may think. But who was I kidding, of course it mattered. For just the simple fact alone that I was a person, and didn't deserve to be treated like scum made it matter.

Jasper did his best to reassure me, whispering words of encouragement when he could. But if this was a precursor of how the rest of the week was going to go, then I was screwed.

**XXXX**

"Do you really know what you're doing? Because you really can't learn to cook from a cook book," she said, nodding at the Good Housekeeping cookbook that was laid out in front of me. "It's not exactly a Science text book you know."

It was Thursday, Thanksgiving day, and Rose, Char and I had been up since five o'clock preparing our holiday meal. It was nearing lunch time when Maria had decided to grace us with her presence.

Jasper had indeed had a conversation with his mother about her treatment of me as soon as we had gotten home from the restaurant two days prior. She had promised him that she would make an effort to get along with me, and since then, in front of him, she did. But their conversation did nothing to stop her from poking at me when he wasn't around.

Rose and Char noticed this, and bless them, did their best to step in whenever they could.

"Oh, actually I was using that cookbook," Char said. "I was just trying to get my measurements correct."

Maria looked disappointed that she had no fodder to verbally beat me with. "Well what can I do to help? You look a little lost over there Bella. I'm sure you're not use to being in the kitchen to actually cook."

"Bella's probably the best cook out of the three of us," Rose said in my defense. "But if you really want to help, you can peel these potatoes." Rose practically shoved the bowl of potatoes at her.

Satan's-I mean Maria's- top lip curled into a semi snarl, but she took the proffered potatoes and pulled a stool up to the island.

"So finish telling us about your date last night Rose," I said, trying to pick a safe topic of conversation away from anything dealing with Jasper and I. I didn't want or need Maria picking apart our relationship any further than what she had already done.

"Oh, it was wonderful!"

"Where did you guys go?" Char asked.

"Em booked a private session at this pottery shop in Soho. You know, the ones where you can design and make your own vases and bowls and whatnot?"

I knew what she was referring to because I had been the one to suggest it to Em when he all but begged me for ideas of where to take her. Jasper had previously taken me to the same shop on one of our date nights. I had fallen in love with the place, and I knew that Rose would too.

"So what did you two make?" I asked.

"Well, we started out on individual projects, but then Em pretended to not know what he was doing, so we ended up on the same pottery wheel and made a vase."

"Like in _Ghost_?" I asked excitedly. "You guys were doing the Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze scene?"

She nodded, smiling like the cat that caught the canary. "I swore I could almost hear the Righteous Brothers singing in the background!"

The three of us squealed. Maria turned up that damned lip again, but said nothing.

"That's so cute!" Char said. "What else did you guys do?"

"We ate at the Via dei Mille-which by the way has the best linguine I've had since Angela's mom use to make it for us Bells. And then when we got back here, we just sat around talking for a while."

"So then its official, you guys are back together?" I asked, hopeful.

"Oh no, it's gonna take a helluva lot more for that to happen."

"But what else is it gonna take?" Char asked. "I mean, you're already gonna have his-"

I elbowed her and minutely nodded to Maria, who was leaning forward, listening intently to our conversation. The last thing we needed was to have her judgmental two cents thrown in the conversation.

"I just want to make sure which direction I should go in."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't want to rush anything. Plus, I have a date with Sam tomorrow night."

"Sam? Does Emmett know?" I asked, feeling torn between supporting my best friend and protecting my brother's heart.

"Yeah, and Em's not thrilled about it, but it's what we agreed to."

"But that was before-"

"Hey, we're hungry," Jasper said, coming into the kitchen. "When is dinner going to be done?"

The guys had been popping into the kitchen every half hour since we started cooking, asking when dinner was going to be done and pinching off of whatever we were in the middle of cooking. We each had taken turns swatting them away from the food and chasing them out of the kitchen.

It was obvious that Jasper was the ring leader in Operation Invade the Kitchen, because the last time we chased him out of the front kitchen door, Peter, along with Emmett and Paul were stealing food out the back kitchen door. They damn near stole half the honey smoked ham that time.

"That's the fifth time you've asked that J," I said, pouring the sweet potato mixture in the pie shells. "And the answer is still the same. We will eat at four o'clock."

"But the game is about to come on now, and we're still hungry," he whined.

He was adorable, but he was getting on my nerves.

"There's enough left-over's in the fridge to last you guys through two games. Now get out of here or I'm gonna put you to work snapping those beans."

"My sons do not cook," Maria said nastily. "I suggest you learn that before this so called _relationship_ goes any further."

Rose, Char and I all stopped what we were doing and my hand enclosed around the handle of the potato masher. Maria Whitlock was about to be sporting a zig-zag line across her constipated face.

"Aww mom," Jasper said, grabbing my arm and gently prying the potato masher out of my fingers. "You know I can cook. And Bella and I cook together all of the time."

"I didn't say that you couldn't, but what good is she if she can't even cook for you."

"I don't know what your problem is lady-"

"Bella, let me handle this," Jasper said, holding me back. "Mom, let me speak to you for a moment."

Jasper kissed my cheek before taking his mom out of the kitchen. Rose and Char looked at me, eyes wide, and then burst out laughing.

"Ohmigod, I thought you were gonna hit her with the potato masher," Char said.

"I was. She had better be glad Jasper was standing between us," I said, through clenched teeth.

"Just calm down hun, breathe and find your happy place," Rose giggled.

Hey, when's dinner gonna be done?" Paul asked, coming into the kitchen.

"GET OUT, and get out now!" I yelled. "Or the next person who asks that question will be eating their dinner through a straw!"

Maria came back into the kitchen a few minutes later, a very somber looking expression on her face. I guessed Jasper had given her a verbal thrashing, because she didn't say anything to me directly and we managed to finish dinner without any more interruptions.

"Babe, do I have to wear this tie?" Jasper asked, fumbling with the knot. "And what's up with these pants? I need to be comfortable when I eat."

I knocked his hands away and finished tying the tie. "But you look so cute."

"We always dress for Thanksgiving Jasper," Rose said, bringing in the last food dish from the kitchen.

"So tell me again how many people are coming," Char said, trying to put together a last minute place setting.

"Well, there's the six of us plus Maria; that's seven. Then there's Paul, James, Esme and Carlisle. What's that, eleven total?" I said.

"What about your friend Kate and her husband?"

I shook my head. "No, they decided to go away for the holiday."

The doorbell rang.

"That must be Esme and Carlisle now," I said.

Char counted the place settings again. "What about Jake?"

"No, he said that he and his new girlfriend may stop by, but they're house hopping, so we don't need a table spot for them."

"Okay, then I guess we're ready," she said.

"Char darling," Maria said, standing in the dining room doorway. "Add one more to the table dear. I've invited someone."

"Who?" Jasper asked, surprised.

She stepped aside.

"Hi guys!" Alice said.

* * *

**A/N: Oh no! Alice rears her ugly head!**

**Reviews keep the creative juices flowing so let me know what you're thinking! Please, pretty please with a Jasper on top!**


	25. Chapter 25

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 25**

**Thanks to my amazing beta's Cullen818 and JamesRamsey, who both did this super fast and lovingly warned me about the ending!**

**Disclaimer: I love hearing from your guys, but PLEASE DO NOT FLAME ME! I have debated and debated, rewrote the ending four times and stressed out over this enough. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I have freaking AWESOME readers that will take Jasper's whole character, as I have written him from the beginning, and the context as to what is going on with James into consideration before jumping to conclusions and pointing fingers that he's a horrible man, and/or I am a horrible person for the way I wrote him.**

**With that being said, I loved hearing from you guys about the whole Alice situation! I can't believe how many people have experienced something similar with their own Monster-In-Law! LOL**

**I hope you enjoy it, and please, keep an open mind.**

**Ya'll know who owns it!**

* * *

**BPOV**

What the fuckin' hell was going on? This week had been one damn roller coaster after another. First Edward shows up out of the blue, apologizing to me and acting like he had a fuckin' heart. A few days later, a mysterious box shows up in the driveway-and just let me say, I'm still not completely over that one yet. Then Jasper's mother arrives two days early, driving everyone crazy, especially me, and making my life a living hell. And now Alice has the nerve to show her face in _my_ house.

It took a second for the shock of seeing her in our house to wear off before someone spoke.

"Dayum Monchichi! You must got ninny's of fuckin' steel to walk up in here like that," Rose said.

I had been talking about this dinner for weeks now, planning everything right down to the pickle forks. It was Jasper and mine first real holiday together, and because I knew that it would be the first time I would be entertaining his mother, I had wanted everything to go perfectly. But now, I didn't give a damn what the woman thought; she would starve before I allowed her to put her feet under my dinner table.

"Jasper…" I whispered in a warning tone, breathing hard and grinding my teeth together. I didn't know whose ass I was going to whip first, his mother's or Alice's. One thing was for certain though, I was about to go Exorcist all over somebody.

"What? I was invited by Maria," Alice said, playing the innocent role.

"Look Alice, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe you didn't know whose house this is," Jasper said, rolling his eyes as if to say that he didn't believe it even as he said it. "But there is no way that you can stay here."

"Jasper Whitlock," Maria said. "I know that I raised you with better manners than this. Alice is a guest in our home."

I took off my earrings. And for those of you who don't know, woe unto you when a woman takes off her earrings. That means you're about to catch a beat down.

"See, that's just it. This is not _your_ home," I said, pushing Jasper aside. "This is _my_ house, and this troll bitch," I said, pointing at Alice, "has got to go!" Jasper tried to pull me back out of the way, but I yanked my arm out of his grasp.

"Are you going to let her talk to me like that Jasper?" Maria asked angrily.

I was torn between still trying to be respectful to Satan, and just ignoring her. So I ignored her, and got right up in Alice's face instead. "What, did you think I would believe that Jasper was cheating on me with _you_?" I shoved her backwards into Maria.

"You look worried, are you afraid of a little competition?" Alice asked, a nasty smug expression on her face before she shoved me right back.

Rose and Char moved into position behind me, ready to throw down with me if it came to that point.

"Competition? HA! You've got nothing to offer him, you nasty slut oven!"

"I can't believe you would use such language!" Maria said, shocked. "But what else should I expect from trash like you!"

Jasper jumped in front of me. "Mom! Stop this-"

"Did she just call you trash?" Rose faked gasped, putting her hand to her open mouth in mock shock.

"I think she did," I said, equally pretending to be shocked. "Normally, if you got the balls to say it, then you got the balls to get bitch slapped." _Had I lost my mind?_ I had always treated my elders with respect and the honor that they deserved, simply because they were _older_ than me; that was the way I had been raised. But this woman had seriously pushed me over my limit, I didn't even feel like myself and I was seconds from losing all self control.

"Char, go get Peter," Jasper said, slightly pushing her out of the dining room. He turned to me and walked me backwards, putting some distance between me and the enemies. "Babe, let me deal with this. Please."

I relented for the moment. After all, he was my man, and there was nothing sexier than watching him defend me.

He took a deep breath and turned back to his mother. "Look mom. This is the McCarty household, and you have no right to invite anyone, especially _Alice_, into their home. And most importantly, you are not allowed to speak to Bella like that, _ever_."

"But baby, I only want what's best for you," Maria said, wrapping her arms around her son in an exaggerated hug. She sneered at me from over his shoulder.

Jasper stepped back out of his mother's embrace. "I love you mom, and Bella is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm with her now-"

"That's right Jazzy-pooh, you're with her for _now," _Alice said_. _"How long before you realize that you two aren't meant to be together?" She reached up and touched his face, running her fingers along his jaw. "Let me be the one to give you what you need. Did you get the box I sent the other day?"

"Oh please!" Rose said, rolling her eyes. "You are one psycho bitch!"

The box that _Bella 2.0_ had cut into a few days prior was actually a psychotic "care package" from Alice, complete with a history in pictures of her and Jasper's relationship, and other odd mementos from their time together.

But the most disturbing thing in the box was the baby book that she had compiled. It contained photo shopped-morphed- pictures of what a baby with her facial features combined with Jasper's, would look like. She even had the nerve to make up a fake birth certificate citing the baby's projected day of birth being nine months from the day the package was left.

Jasper had taken the package and burned it as soon as _Bella 2.0_ had confirmed that there were no explosives in the bottom of the box.

I tensed, and stepped forward, but Jasper held up his hand to stop me. He then pushed Alice away. "Don't ever put your filthy hands on me again. And yeah, we got the box and I burned it."

"You burned it?" Maria asked. "How could you?"

"You knew about that?" Jasper asked, repulsed.

"Who do you think gave her your baby pictures?" She asked smugly.

I gasped, "Oh my God!"

"Man, that's just sick," Rose said.

"I can't believe you would do that," Jasper said, shocked.

"I want you to be with Alice, Jasper. You already have a history with her, and she's ready for the same things that you are, a family," Maria said.

"Yeah, _I_ can give you that Jasper," Alice said. "And so much more."

"Let's get one thing straight Mom and Alice, I'm sure as hell not meant to be _with _you or _tied_ to you for the rest of my life through DNA! We've already talked about this, and nothing has changed. I love Bella and she is my family now. If and when there's a child involved, it will be with _her_, not with you and definitely not with Jane!"

"What up bro?" Peter asked, coming into the dining room. He then saw Alice. "_Alice_? What the hell are you doing here?"

I could hear Emmett's booming voice in the foyer greeting Carlisle, Esme and then James. Drama like this would be the underlying topic of conversation all night, making everyone uncomfortable with trying to avoid the obvious; it would ruin what was left of our night. Jasper must have noticed their approach to the dining room, because he then decided to take control over the situation before it got out of hand.

"You have to leave Alice." He grabbed Alice's arm and turned her toward the kitchen, intent on putting her out of the house through the back door.

"Jasper, you stop this, right this minute," Maria said, following closely behind him and tugging on his other arm.

"Peter, get your mother off of my back!" Jasper yelled.

Alice tried pulling away from him, but he held fast to her arm. She then firmly planted her feet into the rug, refusing to budge. "Just give me what I want Jasper, and I'll leave you alone!"

"You cannot do this just because some motherless whore has you feeling sorry for her for the moment! I will not let this loser, this social freak, be a part of my family!" Maria screamed, pointing at me. "She is not good enough for you and I will not let her tarnish my son!"

All conversations stopped, and the focus was now on what Maria had said. Emmett, Carlisle, Esme and James hovered in the doorway, mouth open and staring at us in disbelief. Even Alice stopped struggling against Jasper.

Everything that she had screamed at me is what I had been hearing my entire life—that I wasn't acceptable, or good enough just because I was different. The only difference between hearing it as a child and hearing it now, was that an adult was saying it. _Shouldn't she know better?_

I couldn't move, and I couldn't say anything. My entire body was numb. I had never done anything to this woman, and she had no right to speak to me like this.

"Mom! Stop this –"

Esme held up her hand to stop Jasper and stepped forward. "Mrs. Whitlock?"

Maria whirled around to face Esme. "What do _you_ want?"

Esme pulled back her fist and punched Maria dead center in the face. Maria fell back against the china armoire and slid to the floor. "Well, Bella is my baby," Esme said, standing over her. "And you will not talk about _my_ child like that!"

And then all hell broke loose.

Maria kicked Esme, knocking her down and then launched herself on top of her. The two women rolled around on the floor, crashing into and knocking over chairs and plant stands in their wake.

"Mom!" Peter yelled.

Alice let out a blood curdling scream, broke away from Jasper and ran to assist Maria. Rose moved to intercept, but I yanked her away and pushed her into Char, who then latched herself onto our friend with a silent reminder of her current condition. In mid stride I tripped Alice, and watched with a certain amount of glee, as she went sprawling to the floor.

"Esme!" Carlisle shouted, running to defend his wife.

In an effort to defend his mother—and rightly so I supposed, because she _was_ his mother after all—Peter shoved Carlisle into the dinner table. Carlisle's hand caught the end of the table cloth, and as he fell to the floor, he took half of the covered food dishes, china and cutlery with him.

Peter was just about to deliver a punch to Carlisle, but Jasper caught his arm and pushed him backwards. I ran to pull Maria off Esme, but Alice caught my arm and slammed me back into the wall, knocking the breath out of me.

"Dammit Bella, don't let that fuckin' monkey trap you!" Rose yelled, fighting against the death grip Char had around her.

Alice pulled back her fist to punch me, but at the last second I dodged the blow, and she punched the wall, screaming out in pain.

"Cut her! Cut that flea ridden hobag!" Rose hollered, throwing her switchblade toward me.

"Rose, if you don't calm down!" Char yelled.

If I was going to hurt Alice, I wanted to do it with my bare hands. I wanted to feel her experience the pain. Everything that Jasper had taught me about fighting and self defense went out the window. I went at Alice with my fingernails, clawing, scratching and pulling hair. It was an all out girl fight now!

Alice came back at me with equal fervor, fighting like a wild animal. But just as I managed to hit her with a throat punch, I felt myself being pulled away from her. Emmett had his arms around my waist and James had Alice locked in a similar embrace.

I didn't know how or when the panic button on the alarm control panel was hit, or even how the police made it through the gates and into the house, but almost as soon as the brawl had started, it ended.

Two Ton Chief Swan and Detective Victoria Simpson stood in the dining room doorway, hands on their hips and surveying the damaged room with a look of disgust and disdain on their faces.

"What the hell is going on around here, and could someone please shut off that damn house alarm!" Swan bellowed.

Emmett, with his arm still around my waist restraining me, walked over to the control panel and punched in the code to stop the blaring alarm.

"This bitch attacked me!" Maria screamed, one hand pointing at Esme and the hand covering her swelling black eye. "I want her arrested!"

"It was self defense," I yelled on Esme's behalf, knowing that as I said it, it wasn't completely accurate.

"No, no no!" Alice said. "Isabella McCarty attacked me! I want to press charges of assault with the intent to kill!"

"Bitch please," Char said, releasing Rose and stepping forward as if she were about to attack Alice herself. "You are trespassing!"

"I am not trespassing, I was invited here!" She argued.

"Guess what, no one who lives here _invited_ you!" I said, rather flippantly. "I want her arrested for trespassing and inciting a brawl and disturbing the peace and assault and…and indecent exposure!"

"Indecent exposure?" Emmett asked.

"Walking around with a mug that _fugly_ should be against the law!" I said, and accepted a high five from Rose.

"Enough!" Swan shouted over our squabbling. "All of you are going to jail! Simpson, call down to the station and tell them to dispatch the paddy wagon to the McCarty household!"

Carlisle jumped up. "Now hold on just a minute Chief Swan, this-"

"Carlisle," Emmett said. "Just cooperate for now. I'll call Jenks and we'll be out within the hour."

Actually, it was more like eight hours later when they finally released us. We each had to give a statement as to what had happened, and was let out with a warning that we had better not cause any more of a ruckus or we would all be locked up until the Monday after the holiday.

As soon as we got home, Maria immediately went upstairs and packed her bags. Despite Peter and Jasper's efforts to talk to her, she called a cab and left, leaving the number of the hotel she was checking into on the foyer table.

I stood in the dining room, looking at the meal we had so meticulously planned out, lying cold on the floor. Jasper slipped an arm around my waist and kissed my temple.

"Are you and Peter going to be okay?" I had been worried that they may be at odds with each other concerning what went down earlier. Peter was defending his mother and Jasper had stopped him.

"Yeah, we're cool. We both know Mom was in the wrong."

"I'm sorry Jasper."

"Sorry for what?"

"For causing all of this mess."

He laughed. "Babe, were you here nine hours ago, or was that your clone? You saw what happened just like everyone else did."

"I just wanted this to be a special Thanksgiving for us."

"It was B. How many times can I say that I was arrested-"

"Detained," I corrected.

He shrugged. "Okay then, how many times can I say that I was detained on Thanksgiving Day? I've never been in a family brawl before. It was kinda fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah, I had two chicks fighting over me and I got to see you throat punch Alice. It doesn't get any better than that!"

I playfully punched his arm. "I love you."

"I love you more." He kissed me, nuzzling my neck. "Let's go upstairs, I wanna try something new," he said seductively, wagging his eyebrows.

"Really, what does it entail?" I asked, slightly breathless from him kissing me.

"You, naked and sitting in my lap with my dick between your thighs," he whispered, his hands gripping my butt and grinding his erection into me.

"Mmm…sounds kinky, but we need to clean up first," I whispered against his lips.

He started walking me backwards toward the stairs. "It's been lying here for nine hours, a few more won't hurt." He bent down and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

I shrieked with laughter and beat on his back as he carried me up the stairs. But just as he flipped me over and down onto the bed, his phone rang. It was after midnight, but neither of us thought about the time as he answered.

"Hello?" he said, tickling me. I watched his face go from playful laughter to horror stricken rage.

"Babe, what's wrong? What is it?" I asked, sitting up. "It's not your mom, is it? Is she okay?"

"Let me make something absolutely clear to you, you little bitch. If I, or anyone I know, see you within shittin' distance of Bella, I will fuckin' eliminate you." He crawled off the bed and paced the floor.

I tugged on his arm. "Jasper-"

"If I even _think_ I smell your scent, I will come after you. You don't want to make me mad Alice. You stay away from her, and you stay away from me!"

Jasper didn't hang up his phone; he threw it against the stone fireplace hearth. It burst into a dozen pieces. He then picked up a table lamp and threw it against the hearth as well, emitting an angry roar as glass went everywhere.

"Jasper!"

He turned and looked at me as if he had forgotten that I was in the same room.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" He wrapped his arms around me. "I-I didn't mean to lose it like that."

I held onto him tightly, running my hands up and down his back and whispering reassuring words to him.

"Bella!" Emmett flung open my bedroom door, Louisville slugger in his hand. "What the hell…you okay?"

"I'm fine Em."

"Jasper, get away from my sister for a moment and let me see that she's okay."

"Everything's fine Em," I said again.

Jasper released me just enough to turn and face Emmett. "No, everything's not fine," he said, arm still around my waist and holding me tightly. "Alice just called me, and now we have not only one psycho after Bella, but probably two."

"Alice?" Emmett asked, sitting his bat down in the corner. "Little itty bitty annoying as hell Alice has the nerve to go up against us? What did she say exactly?"

Jasper sighed, and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. He pulled me down beside him, refusing to let me go. "She warned me that she would, in her words, 'hate for something to happen to Bella', if I didn't give her what she wants."

"She wants a kid that bad?" Emmett asked.

"It's normal for people to want something that they can't have," I said. "It's a scientific fact that women who are infertile have higher anxiety and higher depression levels than those who are not. And while Alice is not infertile—I'm assuming—the facts still hold true. She wants what she cannot have and it's making her react even more irrationally."

"But she can have it, just not with me," Jasper said. "Why can't she find some other poor unsuspecting fool to impregnate her?"

"To her, not having you is the equivalent of not being able to have a baby."

"This makes no friggin' sense," Em said, clearly frustrated. "So you're thinking that Alice may try to kill Bella now, as well as the idiot leaving the death threats?"

Jasper nodded. "The simple fact that she showed up tonight proved that Alice is capable of anything."

"But at least we _know _what Alice is thinkin' and that she may come after me. We still don't know who the other- the real- killer is," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but she's just an added extra headache to deal with. Tomorrow I'll put a few guys on Alice's trail. We'll know when and where she is at all times."

"What about this Stefan Vladimir?" Emmett asked.

"Who?" I asked.

"Fuck, I forgot to ask you about that. Riley said that the guy that was with him the night you were attacked was named Stefan Vladimir. Does that name ring a bell?"

"No, I don't know anyone by that name."

"Are you sure? Riley said that he had a Russian/Romanian accent, but could hide it pretty well."

I shook my head. "I know like a dozen or more engineers from MIT with a Russian/Romanian accent, but none of them named Stefan Vladimir."

"Can you make a list of them then?" Emmett asked. "It's probably a fake name anyway."

I yawned. "Yeah, I'll have to get my senior year Yearbook out of storage though. I can probably recognize and remember them better that way."

"It's late now, we'll do it tomorrow," Emmett said, throwing his bat over his shoulder before going back to his own room.

"Look, I don't want you to worry about Alice."

"That's easier said than done Jasper," I said, sweeping up the glass and broken phone pieces.

He took the broom from me and held my hands in his large ones. "Just believe in me babe. You trust me, right?"

"You know that I do. But-"

He kissed my forehead. "No buts, I got this babe, so no worries_. _Go shower, I'll clean up here and join you in a minute."

I left the broom with Jasper and went to shower. I wanted to say more to him about the Alice situation, but was reluctant to bring it up again. Of course I believed in Jasper, that was a given, and my trust in him to keep me safe was not the issue.

The issue was that I thought that he was spreading himself too thin, trying to watch all of the angles, dealing with his mother and on top of all that, putting up with the craziness that came along with my life. Even though he had employees that could do most of the investigative work and detailed tracking of Alice, Jasper was the type to want to try to take it all upon himself. I could see the possibility of him getting stressed out, and I didn't want that to happen.

I was standing under the rain shower head letting the hot water beat down on me, trying to think of ways to make things easier on Jasper, when I felt his cold hands rest on my hips from behind. He moved my wet hair aside and placed tiny kisses on my shoulders.

"You're worried," he simply stated.

"A little; scared really."

His hands ran up and down my sides and I felt his very hard erection pressing into my back.

He turned me around and kissed me. "Don't be." In one motion he bent slightly and came up, thrusting up into me, then hooked my legs around his waist. I gasped as my back hit the cold tile wall and he stopped just long enough to make sure I was okay. "I'm gonna take care of everything," he said, looking deep into my eyes.

I felt him slide in and out of me, and I tightened my grip on his shoulders. "Promise me…unff…that if it gets…to be too much…ahhh…that you'll reconsider…the options."

"Bella-"

"Promise me!"

His fist slammed into the tile wall above my head with the intensity of his thrusts. "I promise, I promise!" He pumped a few more times and we both came, clinging to each other and breathing hard.

**JPOV**

For the next month or so, things were pretty stressful and hectic. I took turns with Paul and two other of my men, either camped out in front of Alice's townhouse or following her at a safe distance. She seemed to stick to a normal routine and by the end of the first week I was tempted to scale back on the intensity of our surveillance of her. But my instincts told me not to get lulled into a false sense of security, and following my instincts had thus far never led me wrong.

We also took turns holed up in the bar that Riley said that he had met Stefan Vladimir in, using a crude physical description that he had provided of the man, but came up empty each night. We had canvassed the surrounding area, asking the business owners and patrons if they knew of a man that fit Vladimir's description, yet no one had ever seen him. It was almost like he had appeared and then disappeared into thin air.

I made sure to clue Bella in on each step of the process dealing with Alice and Vladimir. I didn't want another break down of communication or for a misunderstanding to occur. She was not happy with the time I was spending hanging out in bars looking for Vladimir, simply because she thought it was too dangerous. I reassured her, the best I could, that I was safe and that nothing would happen to me, but truth be told, there was no way to be absolutely certain of that.

Peter and I continued to try to talk to our mother, to reassure her that we loved her. Even though we didn't agree with the things she did or said, she was still our mother, and we hoped that one day we could move past what happened at Thanksgiving.

I made it clear to her, in no uncertain terms, that Bella was the most important person in my life, and that I would not stand for her mistreating my future wife. She did not like the fact that I had plans to marry Bella one day, and vocalized her opinion on the matter quite vehemently. It didn't matter to me what she said, I loved Bella and I was going to spend the rest of my life with her.

I could tell that what my mother had said to Bella affected her deeply-hell, it made me furious every time I thought about it myself. People don't realize how powerful words are, and how it effects the person that hears them. Bella never mentioned it to me, and just brushed it off as nothing when I did bring it up, but I knew that what mom had said weighed heavily on her mind.

Of all the things I did tell Bella about what was going on, there was one thing that I hadn't mentioned to her. We had received another death threat earlier in the week. Paul had found it one morning as he was doing his routine perimeter check. It was an animal, what kind I didn't know because it had been massacred beyond recognition, and left on the driveway in front of the gate. Whoever left it had the audacity to spell Bella's name out in blood on the stone pavement. Emmett had Tyler pressure wash the evidence away and had left it up to me to tell Bella about it.

I procrastinated in telling her for several reasons, one being that it was a few days before Christmas and the anniversary of her father's death. He had died Christmas Eve, and it was a highly emotional time for her and Emmett. Another reason why I was hesitant to tell her was because things had, up until that point, been rather peaceful, and ruining her sense of security was not something I wanted to do even though I knew it had to be done sooner, rather than later.

"Hey babe," I said, coming into her garage lab.

The contractors had finished modifying the garage the week after Thanksgiving and she had spent most of her time every day since refining the specifications of the engine. She had an important meeting with two large car manufactures and an oil company coming up in the next few months and I knew she was starting to stress over it.

She held up a finger, indicating to give her a moment to finish her conversation with James. Currently, she was sitting in front of the large fifty inch TV monitor talking to him through a live video stream; he was in the lab at McCarty Enterprises.

I still hated James and had even more doubts about him since Thanksgiving. I couldn't quite put my finger on what had caused him to act so skittish, but his entire countenance changed the moment we stepped out of the house and into the paddy wagon. He had acted entirely too suspicious and nervous while we were detained at the police station.

There was also something about the way he was too friendly, too familiar and too…just too much with Bella that set me off each time he was around. I didn't know how to describe the feelings he invoked in me, but if he had been some random guy on the streets, I would have knocked him out long ago.

One good thing about Bella being suspended from McCarty Enterprises was that if she insisted on working with James, then this was the ideal way. She could talk to him and take advantage of his skills and knowledge without physically being around him in an isolated lab. But the universe isn't satisfied until everything is balanced. The one bad thing about Bella being suspended was that James spent more time at our house now.

It seemed like he was here every day. There was even a time or two when I swore that he showed up before breakfast. When I pointed this out to Bella, she seemed not to have noticed, and remarked that he only showed up to drop off blueprints or research notes and the like. It was probable that I was exaggerating the amount of times he had come to the house, but truthfully, one time was too many in my book.

The longer she talked to him, the more impatient I got. I prowled around the garage lab, picking up objects and putting them right back down. My anger and frustration grew at him always monopolizing her time. I knew that I was acting irrational and slightly neurotic, but couldn't she see how much this bothered me?

"Bella-"

She didn't even look up from her notes. "One sec Jazz," she said and turned back to James. "Look on page thirty-four James. I think there's a mistake in the percentage of bioethers."

"Do you think it's too low?" James asked.

"I'm not sure. I think we may need to run the test again. It's-"

"Bella, I need to talk to you," I said, purposely and rudely, interrupting.

"Okay Jasper, but if you could give us just one more minute, then I'll be through for the rest of the day."

It was a reasonable request, but it was something about the way she looked at me, almost like I was an afterthought or an interfering child, that set me off. And at the moment, I was past thinking reasonably. "No dammit! I've been waiting too long already!" I yelled at her so loudly, and with so much force, that I even scared myself.

Her eyes went wide with a questioning look, and she took a deep breath before speaking. "Jasper, just calm down."

"Get out of there Bella!" James screamed. "Don't you hurt her! I swear to-"

I flipped off the TV monitor and camera, cutting James's voice out of the room, and reached for her to apologize. She took a step back from me, rightly so, given the state of fury I was in, yet it angered me even more. "Don't you walk away from me!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm tired of him coming before me!"

"Jasper, we were _working_. You know that whether I'm here or in the City, this time is designated for me to work!"

"You're always working with _him_! Every time I turn around, it's Jane this and Jane that. I'm sick and tired of hearing about JANE!" I didn't know what the hell had gotten into me, but I grabbed her arm and shook her.

She yelped and slapped and punched at me until I released her. She fell backwards, hitting her head on the lab table. I reached down to assist her up, to apologize for being an ass, but she scrambled away from me.

"Bella, I'm sorry!"

But I might as well be apologizing to her microscopes and test beakers, because she took off running, slamming the door in the process. I knew enough about Bella to know not go running after her, she wouldn't want anything to do with me at the moment even if I did. So I righted one of the fallen stools and sat down hard, my head in my hands.

It was then that I realized what I had done. Not only had I verbally and physically assaulted the woman I loved, but I had transferred my subconscious remaining anger about the Alice/Jane situation onto Bella. I had even called James by Jane's name.

I didn't know how long I sat there, berating myself and praying that I hadn't seriously hurt Bella or damaged our relationship beyond repair. I snapped out of my-self loathing when I heard the garage lab door open and bang shut, hoping that it was Bella.

"What's wrong with you and where is Bella?" Rose asked.

I sighed, disappointed. I didn't want to face Rose's wrath and possibly being stabbed by her if I told her what had happened, so I didn't readily answer her question. "What do you need Rose?"

She looked at me, her head cocked to the side with narrowed eyes. I always felt that Rose had great intuition, and could sense things that others failed to pick up on. "Whatever you did, you know that, pregnant or not, I _will_ kick your ass?"

"I know."

"Then you had better make right whatever it was that you did wrong to her."

I nodded. "I will. What can I help you with?"

She slapped a picture down on the lab table. It was a digitally enhanced copy of Bella's summer science camp group. "Recognize anyone?" she asked, pointing a blood red fingernail at a pimple faced teenager.

I stood and turned the photo towards the light.

"Well fuck me sideways!" I said, looking at Rosie for confirmation.

She nodded. "Funny, that's the same thing I said when I saw James Cope standing right behind Bella in that photo."

* * *

**A/N: *peeping around the corner, looking for rotten tomatoes* So what do you think? Remember, consider Jasper's overall personality and the situation with James!**

**Press that little review button and leave me some good lovin' please!**


	26. Chapter 26

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 26**

**Thanks Cullen818 and JamesRamsey for being patient with me when I re-wrote this!**

**You know who owns it, and it's definitely not me! **

****

Okay guys, this is a bit of a filler chapter, but it ends with a bang! Let me know what you think!

* * *

**JPOV**

Even though the face that stared back at me was fifteen years younger, full and pudgy with baby fat, it was without a doubt in my mind, James Cope. I couldn't even begin to describe the panic that rose in my chest at seeing him in that photo. It explained everything, and yet it explained nothing at all.

"How can we be sure?" Rose asked. "Maybe it's his brother, or cousin or something."

I knew that she was trying to get me to not jump to conclusions, and she was right, we needed to be absolutely sure before embarking on this witch hunt. Bella was a facts and figures kind of woman, and there was no way, especially after what had just happened between us, that I could go to her with theories and maybe's. She would miss the significance of what I was trying to tell her, and would accuse me of being jealous.

On the other hand, if I didn't tell her she would either lose trust in me, attempt to beat me to a bloody pulp for withholding information from her, or do both. No, I had to tell her, and while at the same time looking for the proof that I knew she was going to need.

"I wonder if we could somehow find a roster of kids that attended the camp that summer." I said, turning the photo this way and that way under the light for a closer look.

"Yeah, but how? It's not like we know how to hack into their computer system like Ben used to do."

"No, this will probably take some good old fashion investigative foot work." I sighed, feeling the weight of the world resting on my shoulders. "I'll add it to my list of things to be done."

"No, let me do this one," Rose offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're already running yourself ragged following Alice and looking for Stefan Vladimir. Peter's investigating the people on both of Bella's lists, the initial one and the one she made the other day of the Romanian MIT engineers, so then the least I could do is a little investigative work. Checking on this one should be fairly easy."

"Alright, but if it gets to be too much, or if you run into a road block let me know."

"Nah, I can handle it."

"I think we need to also show Bella right away," I said, scratching my head in thought.

"Are you sure? You know she's gonna want proof."

"Yeah, maybe it will jar her memory and she'll recognize him for herself. Plus, if I don't tell her, she's liable to kick my ass."

Rose snorted. "She'll probably kick your ass anyway for whatever it is that just happened between you two. You need to go find her and apologize."

Apologize. Yeah, there was nothing I could say to Bella to make up for what I had done to her. I felt sick at the image in my head of the way I yelled at her, grabbed her arm, and then her fighting me off. I would be lucky if she didn't cut me out of her life for good.

"Yeah, well…"

"What _did_ you do?" Rose asked, seeing the fantod expression on my face.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea," I said, locking the door behind us before heading back to the main house.

It was frigid outside; the wind blowing off the bay was cold enough to freeze you in your tracks. The driveway had pockets of black ice and Rose hooked her arm through mine for support in case she slipped. "Bella loves you, she'll forgive you."

"I hope you're right."

I went looking for Bella, prepared to crawl on my knees and beg for her forgiveness. Her fist found my face first, catching me completely off guard and knocking me down as I walked into the kitchen. It was almost like she had been lying in wait for me. She straddled me, trapping my arms to my sides with her knees, and sat down on my chest with an exaggerated bounce, forcing the air out of my lungs. One tiny hand surrounded my throat and the other was pulled back into a fist, ready to pound my face in. I lay there anticipating the beating I knew that I deserved; I wouldn't resist or try to defend myself.

"Listen to me, and you listen good. If you ever touch me like that again, I will eunuchsize you, you got it?"

"Yes."

Her hand tightened. "I'm not Alice, and James is not Jane. I work with him, and that's _all._ I love _you_ and I have no interest in him whatsoever. Understand?"

"Yes, yes! I'm sorry for acting like an ass." I choked out. Her grip around my throat tightened even more, and I think she was purposely grinding her butt into my chest so that I couldn't breathe.

"Now, what did you have to tell me that was so friggin' important that it made you lose your fucking mind and come at me like that?"

"Can you…maybe…get off my chest Bella?"

"No. Talk," she commanded, fist still balled and ready to fight. She did take her hand away from my throat though.

I felt my eye swelling from where she had punched me, and I took a deep breath as best as I could. Bella was not a heavy woman, but when all one hundred fifteen pounds of her was sitting directly on my lungs, she felt like an elephant.

I wiggled my arms in an effort to free them from her trap, but stopped when she cocked a threatening eyebrow at me. "There was another death threat."

"When and where?"

With her sitting on my chest, I told her everything that I knew. She seemed to think about it for a moment before speaking again.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry."

She didn't like that answer at all, because she grabbed my throat again, pushing my head back against the floor with a loud _thump_. "So you'd rather act like a fucking moron to me than to tell me what was going on?" she asked angrily. "You should have told me the _minute_ it happened Jasper."

"I know, I know. B-but-"

"No buts, J. You know that I don't like being kept in the dark about things like this."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

I hesitated a second longer than Bella's liking, because she squeezed my throat again. "Okay, okay, I'll talk." I knew that I could move Bella with little to no effort at all—I was ex-military and an all around bad ass after all-but she seemed to be getting some sort of satisfaction at being the dominating force, so I let her revel in her glory for the moment. I did free my arms and I shifted her weight off my chest so that I could breathe a little easier; she was now sitting on my abdomen. "The picture, the one of your science camp group," I clarified at seeing her confused expression. "Rose and I think that James is one of the kids in the background."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Jasper. Enough about James already."

"No, I'm serious! If you will get off of me, I'll show you."

"I went through those pictures not too long after you found them in the box Jazz. James is not one of the kids."

"I think you're wrong B. And I don't want you near him."

"He's helping me with my research Jasper."

"He could also be trying to kill you for your research!" I stated rather bluntly.

She didn't say anything for a moment. "What do you want me to do then? I'm right at the brink of a break through here. If I fire him, it will set me back for probably months."

"I just don't want anything to happen to you. Your safety is the most important thing to me." I took a deep breath—as best as I could with her still sitting on me like she was, and ran my hands up and down her thighs. "Will you at least agree to look at the picture? I know that you'll see what Rose discovered if you take another, closer look at it."

"Fine, I'll look at the picture," she agreed.

"And-"

"_And_? What else am I agreeing to J?"

"A compromise."

"Name it."

"You limit your contact with him. When you have to go into the City to your lab, you give him the day off. Only talk to him through your web cam and the phone. If you need to send him documents, then do it through a courier service. This way you'll still have him available if you need him. In turn, I will find out if the kid in the photo is him, and when I do find out that it's him, you fire him on the spot."

She thought about it for a moment then leaned down and kissed me. "Okay deal, but no more of your psycho drama when I do have to talk to him and work with him. When I'm working, let me work."

"Deal."

"I don't know what the hell you two are doing, but it had better not involve getting naked in the middle of the kitchen floor," Emmett said, coming into the kitchen. "And I heard about the pantry incident; I do not approve. I mean, the food we eat is in there!"

"We sterilized everything afterwards," Bella stated, as if that made it okay that we were doing dirty things in the common areas of the house.

The day of the pantry incident she had been wearing one of those flimsy jersey knit skirts that she wore while lounging around the house sometimes. I could see the outline of her white cotton granny panties when she bent over, and well, ever since the first time I had dreamed about her in that space—sans the granny panties of course- bent over like that, it had been a fantasy of mine to get at her in the pantry.

It didn't make it right that we were doing the nasty practically out in the open, especially around food like that, but I damn sure couldn't help myself if I tried. I had had a similar dream about us doing it in her lab, legs up and spread eagle between the microscope and Petri dishes, but that was for another time. I could practically feel _JW_ twitching with the memory, and apparently Bella could too, because she cocked that eyebrow at me again in warning.

"Sorry," I mumbled to her.

"That does not mean it's okay for you to—"Emmett's phone rang. "Could you please call James and tell him to stop calling me."

"James is calling _you_?" Bella asked, still sitting on me.

"Yeah, he's called me like ten times in the last hour ranting about Jasper beating…hey, why do you have a gigantic bump on your forehead Bella?"

"Bella, get off me," I said, using a little more force to wiggle out from under her. Sensing that I was about to take control of the situation and talk to James myself, she latched onto me tighter.

"No, let me talk to him," Bella said, reaching for Emmett's still ringing phone.

"Absolutely not." I said, finally managing to stand up. "I don't want you talking to him." She wrapped her legs around my waist and hooked her arms around my neck. I looked like a mama monkey with her baby hanging off of her. I tried shaking her off, but she was wrapped too tightly around me.

"You guys are just weird. What the hell is going on between you two?" Emmett asked. "And what happened to your eye Jazz?"

"Don't ask. Bella let go of me," I said, trying to shake her off again.

"We have a deal Jasper, remember?"

"I promise I won't-"

I didn't get to finish because Emmett abruptly grabbed me by my shirt collar, disrupting Bella's hold on me.

"What did you do to my sister?" He demanded.

"Emmett, stop this right now!" Bella unhooked her legs and slid down my body until her feet touched the floor, then jumped in front of me, as if she were trying to protect me from Emmett.

"Did he hit you?" Emmett asked, his hand tightening. He pushed me back up against the wall.

"No, of course not!"

"Then why does it look like what James said is true?" Emmett was getting angrier by the second.

"Bella get out of the way!" I yelled, trying to push her out of the way. "Look Emmett, Bella and I had a misunderstanding. Everything is okay now."

"Misunderstandings just don't end with my sister's forehead swollen like that."

"I fell Emmett, that's all," Bella said, tugging on her brother's arms. "Let him go!"

"You fell, or were you pushed?"

He didn't give Bella time to answer because he hit me, knocking me down. My other eye was stinging and now swelling with the aftereffects of Emmett's fist connecting with it. Emmett came at me with everything he had, and right before I was knocked out, I distinctly recall hearing him warning me to stay away from his sister and Bella screaming at him not to kill me.

I woke up to the fuzzy sight of Carlisle standing over me. I shifted to my right side, and gasped at the pain that shot through my body. Bella's worried, tear streaked face loomed over me.

"Don't move too much baby," she said. "Carlisle thinks you may have a few bruised ribs."

"I think you may have a few bruised ribs," Carlisle confirmed. "I've given you a pretty powerful pain killer, and it should start working in a few minutes."

"What happened?" I asked in a low, strained whisper.

No explanation was needed, we could all hear Emmett roaring in anger and beating on the closed bedroom door, and then Rose trying to calm him down.

"Emmett happened," Peter said.

"Listen," Carlisle said with that "I'm-putting-my-foot-down" tone. "I'm gonna go talk to Emmett about this too, but things in this house seem to have gotten out of hand. You kids are like my own flesh and blood, and I know that I don't live here; but I don't want to hear about any more fighting. Got it?"

We all nodded in agreement. I personally felt ashamed of myself for all that had happened in the last few hours, and even though I had only known Carlisle for a few short months, I hated the fact that we had disappointed him.

My head seem to be floating off my body, and I felt extremely emotional and sleepy at the same time. "I'm weally weally sorree." I said to both Bella and Carlisle. My words were starting to slur, I was crying—what the hell?- and my tongue felt thick and heavy. "I wuv uoo so muc. I neva vant uoo to be skeered ov meee."

"Damn Carlisle, how much of that stuff did you give him?" Peter asked, prying open my eyelids and looking into my eyes. "He's high as a kite!"

"He just needs to sleep it off." He packed his medical bag. "Bella, make sure that he gets plenty of rest, and make sure that he doesn't do anything strenuous until I recheck him in about a week or so. He'll be in a lot of pain for at least the next few days, so don't scrimp on the meds."

I could barely hold my eyes open, but I was afraid that Bella wouldn't be there when I woke. Yeah, I was acting like a little girl, so what!

"Don't leavth me, pluhwease," I begged her.

I knew she and Peter were trying not to laugh, but I didn't care.

"I'll be right here baby, promise."

**XXXX**

I don't know how long I slept, but Bella was right there beside me when I woke up. My entire body ached, and my face felt swollen and tight. I eased out of the bed, trying to muffle my groans from the pain, and hobbled to the bathroom to take care of a little business.

Afterwards, I stood in the mirror surveying the damage to my face. Both eyes were black; the one from Bella was thankfully almost gone. When she hit me, it was more of the shock of it than the actual power behind it that had caught me off guard.

Now the other eye, the one Emmett hit- let's just say that I was glad I still had an eye. I had a busted top lip and a swollen nose. Raising up my shirt, I noted that my entire right side was black and blue. If I looked this bad, I wondered how bad Emmett looked. I couldn't even remember if I had had a chance to effectively fight back.

"Carlisle says that you need to stay in bed," Bella said, standing in the doorway, wearing one of my tee shirts and yawning.

"How long was I out for?"

"You've been in and out for about a day and a half."

"A day and a half?" I said loudly, instantly regretted the action as the movement jarred my ribs.

"Calm down J, it's not like you didn't need the rest. Between the meds Carlisle put you on and the days you've been living on three hours worth of sleep, I'm surprised you weren't out longer."

Between running tabs on Alice and trying to find Vladimir, there hadn't been much time to sleep in the past month. She was right, I did need the rest, but now I was behind on keeping track of everyone and everything.

"I need to shower and go."

'The only place you're going is to bed."

"But-"

"No buts, get your beeswax back to bed," she said, pointing toward the bedroom.

Like a scolded child I sulked off to bed where, for the next day or so, Bella stayed by my side. We slept, watched movies, talked—about everything other than James-and ate junk food. Rose, Peter and Char popped in and out of the room, checking on us. It did not escape my notice that each time someone came or left, they locked the door behind them to keep Emmett out.

"Hey babe, where's _Bella 2.0_ and the rest of those pictures?"I asked, rooting around in the closet for the box Bella kept her in. I wanted to show her the pictures again.

She popped her head out of the bathroom. "Oh, I took her to the lab at McCarty Enterprises the last time I went into the City. Why?"

"Because I wanted to take a look at the rest of those pictures. What do you need her at the lab for?"

"James is adding extra motion sensors to her base." Just hearing his name mentioned set my blood to boil.

Bella knew this, and distracted me the best she could by pulling off the tee shirt and sleeping boxers she was wearing and then tossed them in the hamper. "Come get in, the water's warm."

I allowed her to help me into the large jetted garden tub, and instead of dwelling on James, or the pictures, I asked her about Emmett.

"He's mad," she simply stated.

"I know that, but surely he knows that I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I explained everything to him once Peter pulled him off of you. So he knows, but he's not taking it into consideration."

"Well, I should talk to him."

"It's more than just you J. It's you and Rose and dad and me and just everything all at once." She slipped onto the little shelf wall behind me, her legs hanging down into the water beside my shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

She poured berry scented bath massage oil on my shoulders and began working the knots out of my muscles.

"Today is Christmas Eve, the same day dad died, and the same day he officially took over my guardianship. Rose has been trying to help him but he keeps pushing her away. She wanted to have a family dinner and to go leave flowers on dad's grave, but Em's been refusing. She said that she wasn't going to sit around here and watch him drink himself to death and sulk, so she accepted a date to go out with Sam tonight instead. Dad's death was hard on her too, and her date with Sam pissed Em off even more."

"How long has Emmett been like this?"

"He's been sequestered in his office drinking since the night you guys fought, but it got worse last night."

I stopped her hands and maneuvered her so that she was sitting in the tub in front of me. "I'm sorry babe; I've lost all track of time and forgot what today is."

She dropped her head and shrugged. "It's not something I like remembering, and we never make Christmas a big affair anyway. Too many painful memories, ya know?"

"I understand, but you and Rose should go to the grave, even if Emmett doesn't want to."

"I don't know, it's not something I particularly like doing." She started massaging my feet and even though I protested—_I_ should have been the one massaging _her_ feet—she waved away my offer and continued kneading the tendons of my arches.

"How about if I go with you? Would that help?"

"Maybe," she said softly, concentrating on rubbing my calf muscle. "Jasper?"

"Yeah babe?"

"Why would your mother think that you being tied to Alice and Jane with a baby would be the best thing for you?"

And there it was, I knew that it had been bothering her and I was wondering when it was going to come up.

"I think Alice lied to her and told her that they broke up because she was still in love with me."

"But surely if you explain to your mom that Alice is lying…"

"Have you met my mother? Do you think it would make a difference?"

"Yeah, you're probably right. And it doesn't help the situation that Char accidentally let it slip to your mom about my endometriosis."

"So that's how she found out," I said. "I was wondering about that."

"Char feels awful about it. She said that they were just talking causally one day a few weeks ago and it came up." She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Jazz, I want you to go talk to Dr. Dwyer."

"What? Why?"

"You've been really stressed out about Alice and this Vladimir guy, all of that junk between us in the lab and then Em beating the crap out of you-"

"He didn't beat the crap out of me," I argued, male pride slightly offended. In fact, I had caught a few glances at Emmett, and he was, except for the bruised ribs, in just about as bad shape as I was.

"Whatever. I just want you to have someone to talk to, too."

I didn't feel like I needed to talk to anyone, I had everything under control. But at the same time, and even though we had been locked in the same room for practically three days together, I wanted Bella to feel safe around me and I wanted our relationship to get back on track. If this is what she needed, then this is what I would give her. It couldn't hurt, right?

I chastely squeezed her thighs under the water. "If it makes you feel safe around me, then I'll do it."

"It's not that—well, that's a very small part of it, but mainly everyone needs someone to talk to every now and then-at least that's what you always tell me. And yes, you still have me, always, but I just…I dunno…"

"I understand babe, and I'll go, for you and for me."

She slid closer to me and kissed me, running her fingers through my hair and caressing the back of my neck. I groaned and pulled away. "Babe, I've got about a good eight inches on my entire body that doesn't hurt, and if you keep that up, we'll be breaking Carlisle's no strenuous activity rule."

"Eight inches, huh?" She grinned, sliding her hands down my body and taking all eight of the aforementioned inches into her hand, pumping up and down. "We can just say that it was a part of a therapeutic full body massage, conducted to assist with blood circulation and promote healthy healing."

"Prescribed by Dr. Isabella McCarty?"

"Well I _do_ have two Ph.D's."

"Mmm…what else do you prescribe for a speedy recovery Dr. McCarty?"

"I have found that several sessions of cunnilingus is necessary for good heart function."

"My heart or yours."

"Mine definitely."

I groaned at her up and down hand ministrations, but removed them from my eight inches. "I don't think I could hold my breath under water for that long, but if you'll help me out of here, we can get started on the first session." She squealed as I ran my hands under the water and lightly pinched her in a sensitive area.

"But you know what Carlisle said about you not doing anything strenuous," she teased.

"What Carlisle doesn't know, won't hurt him."

"Ooohh, bad boy Whitlock breaking the rules. I like the way you operate cowboy."

**XXXX**

Bella sat beside me, staring out the window as Paul drove us to the graveyard. I reached over and squeezed her hand, letting her know that she was not alone. The car was eerily quiet, and considering the circumstances, appropriately so.

The morning snow crunched underfoot as we made our way across the cemetery from the car. Rose and Bella walked ahead of us, arms hooked and heads together, whispering words of encouragement to each other for each step closer they took to the grave.

I had been through this before, my own father had passed several years prior, and while the pain never goes away, it does lessen. Although I imagined that Bella's pain was quite different than my own. Peter and I had had the privilege of having our father be an active part of our life since we were born. Bella's father died when she was seventeen, and she had only had a real relationship with him for four short years before that.

Rose stood beside Bella for a moment, and then came back to the car. Bella laid bouquets of purple tulips atop her parent's side-by-side graves, the bright color a stark contrast against the snow and cold dreary morning. I started to go to her when Paul grabbed my arm, nodding to a lone figure approaching Bella.

My heart lurched in my chest until I realized that it was Emmett. He scooped Bella up into a hug, and they clung to each to each other, obviously overcome by emotion. A while later Emmett turned and headed back across the cemetery toward where Tyler was waiting with his car. Before he got into the car he turned and nodded his thanks to me. Bella touched each headstone in farewell before turning and coming back to the car.

"You okay babe?"

She nodded, unshed tears in her eyes. "Yeah."

**XXXXX**

"I don't want you going out with him!" Emmett yelled at Rose, slightly slurring his words.

I thought that perhaps visiting his parent's grave would serve to sober Emmett up, and bring him back to his senses. Apparently, I was wrong. As soon as we had gotten back home from the cemetery, Emmett had crawled back to his bottle of Jack Daniels and his foul mood.

Bella tried to talk to him, but soon after gave up. According to her and Rose, he was always like this on Christmas Eve and Day and then back to his old responsible self the day after the holidays. Dealing with everything that had happened to Bella this year had made dealing with his father's death especially hard, and any offer of solace from the girls had been strongly rebuffed.

For the last hour he had been randomly yelling about Rose and her date with Sam, going from room to room with his bottle in one hand and their family portrait in the other. Peter, Tyler and I were keeping an eye on him to make sure that he didn't hurt himself or anyone else while Bella, Rose and Char hid the rest of the alcohol.

"Well I'm not sitting around here, watching you drink yourself into oblivion!" Rose yelled back.

I personally didn't agree with the fact that Rose was going out with Sam, but then again, I was glad that she wouldn't be around Emmett and the mood he was in either. She still hadn't told him about the baby—something I definitely didn't agree with, but like Bella said, it was not our place to tell him—and he would have to be blind not to notice anyway.

She had a tiny baby bump that I was itching to touch. Pregnant women and babies fascinated me-why, I didn't know-and while I knew that she was nowhere near far enough along for the kid to be moving, that fact still didn't stop me from wanting to touch it.

"Dammit Rose, what else do I have to do for you to believe me when I say that I love you?" Emmett asked.

It sounded like he was about to cry, and speaking from experience, a drunk, crying Emmett was no fun to be around. It also meant that he was close to throwing up and passing out-which in itself wasn't really a bad thing in that it also meant he would be through with his annual alcohol binge.

"Why don't you grow up, and stop acting like an ass!"

"You're driving me crazy Rosie! I love you man—I mean, wo-man!"

Oh God, he _was_ crying! I wanted to laugh, but bit my tongue. His grief could easily have been my own if I didn't have such an awesome woman like Bella.

"We have a problem," Rose said, coming into my old bedroom.

"No, no no. We don't have any problems tonight," I said, trying to retie my tie. I was taking Bella out tonight in an effort to make amends for the way I had acted, and to give her good memories on a day that, in the past, had been full of sorrow. "Catch me the day after tomorrow and we can discuss all the woes of the universe if you want. But tonight is a worry free night."

She pushed my hands away and tied the tie for me. "Emmett is driving me nuts!"

"That's not a problem, that's life."

"I don't know what to do," she said, standing there as if I should be the one giving her the secret to the meaning of life-or love in her case.

"Well don't look at me, I do fine screwing up my own relationship as it is."

"But you know him best."

"But you love him more and you're too scared to admit it to yourself and to him," I countered.

We could hear Emmett down the hallway in his bedroom chanting her name over and over again in a drunken slur.

"But-"

"No buts Rosie. What else does he really have to do before you give him a break? He's taken you out numerous times, he's told you and, more importantly, _shown_ you over and over how much he cherishes the time you guys have spent together over the last four years. How many men do you know that would search for days for a replica of a teddy bear that you had and lost in a house fire as a child, only to not find it and go out and have one custom made for you based on his sister's description of it?"

"You would do the same thing," she argued.

I flashed her a perfect pearly white smile. "Yeah well, I _am_ the perfect boyfriend." I laughed, and then groaned as the vibrations hurt my sore ribs. "But for really-realz Rosie, cut the man some slack."

"My Rosie is red, my Rosie is blue, my Rosie's lips are sugary sweet. Come here girl, and let me taste you!" Emmett sang at the top of his lungs. "My sweet Rooosssiiieee!"

"I'll think about it." She sighed, smiling at Emmett's song. "I know that you and Bella have a date tonight, but I just wanted to run something else by you first."

"Am I going to get upset about it? Because I'm in a really good mood right now, and I don't want anything killing it."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. I know that you're excited about getting laid tonight, but I need you to focus first."

I sighed. "Okay, but just remember that I reserve the right to stop you at any moment I deem you're about to ruin my good mood."

Rose pulled out the photo of Bella's science group and laid it on the dresser. She had taken a black marker and underneath each person, labeled their names.

"I figured that it would look suspicious for some random stranger to be looking for the kids in the photo, so when I called the camp director, I pretended to be Bella looking to reconnect with old friends."

"That's pretty good thinking. What did he say?"

"Let's just say that he remembered Bella—not fondly I might add, because of all of the problems she caused with the Camp counselors. He was not helpful at all and said that it violated the camps privacy policy to divulge any information about the campers. When I asked Bella if she could remember any of the kids, she was able to point out two of the girls she bunked with. So I started my search there.

"Fortunately, they both remembered Bella and, after locating their own copy of the photo, they were able to give me about half of the names of the kids from their group. But the bad news is, neither one of them could verify that the kid behind Bella was James."

"It's okay Rose, we're making progress and that's what matters."

"I figured that after the holidays I would start calling some of the names they gave me to see if I could identify the rest of the campers." She packed up her investigative work and headed toward the door. "Bella told me about your compromise with her. We do need more proof before we accuse someone of stalking and premeditated attempted murder. I mean, we could be barking up the wrong tree."

"It's possible, but I think James is the One Rosie."

"Well, we'll see. This investigative work is kinda fun. Are you sure you don't want to hire me?"

Emmett started singing again, this time Frank Sinatra. "'It's quarter to three,/There's no one in the place 'cept you and me/So set 'em up Joe/I got a little story I think you oughtta know/ We're drinking my friend/ To the end of a brief episode/ So make it one for my baby/And one more for the road!'"

"I think you've got your hands full dealing with that one," I said, pointing down the hall at Emmett.

"'So make it one for my baby Rosie! And one more for the road!'" Emmett sang at the top of his lungs.

**XXXX**

"So are you going to tell me where we're going or not?" Bella asked.

I think my heart sped up at the sight of her coming down the stairs toward me. She was wearing an asymmetrical, one shoulder dress in a blackish/purpleish color with an oval—I think I heard Rose say it was a 'keyhole'—cut out at the breasts. The dress stopped about mid thigh and her long lean legs ended in a pair of high heels.

My eyes traveled from the top of her upswept hair to the rounded toe of her pumps and then back up, stopping at my favorite spot.

"Well hheelloo boobies!" I think I drooled a little.

"Hey babe, my eyes are up here," she said, pointing to her beautiful brown eyes. "So are you gonna tell me or not?"

"Not," I said and draped her thick coat around her shoulders.

"Ahh c'mon, just a little hint. Pretty, pretty please."

I kissed her playfully pouty lips. "Nope."

I wanted to do something special for Bella. We had had nothing but problem after problem the last few weeks and we both needed time to just escape real life. With a little help from Rose and Char, and a lot of help from my wallet, I was able to plan the perfect date.

I rented out the local stage theater and had dinner catered and set up on a white linen draped table on the stage for us when we got there. The stage was also decorated to perfection-it looked like the florist shop had thrown up all over the place.

The table was surrounded by purple and fuchsia color hydrangea clouds with twinkling lights interwoven between the flowers, hanging from the ceiling. The same color peonies were in bouquets atop large plant stands standing near and around the table, and purple rose petals formed a walkway from the front door of the theater to the stage. I only knew the names of the flowers because the florist had detailed the flower names on her bill—after she damn near charged me an arm and a leg to set everything up.

But dinner was not the only thing I had planned for the night. It took a lot of begging and pleading and promises of naming my first born after him, but I was finally able to convince one of my old clients to drive the hour or so to Sound Beach, on Christmas Eve no less, from where he was in the City to perform for Bella.

One of Bella's favorite singers had agreed to perform a private concert for us, and I knew she would flip when he walked out on the stage during the dessert course.

I wanted this to be a real date without the presence of Paul lurking in the background, but I also knew how dangerous that could be, so he followed in a separate car and I drove my Audi. I tucked Bella into the car and drove the few miles to the theater.

"You're taking me to a closed theater?"

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'.

"Huh?"

"Patience baby, patience."

One of the waiters I had hired was waiting at the door for us. He took our coats, then ushered us towards the tall auditorium double doors. I hooked Bella's arm through mine before pulling the doors open.

Her face lit up like the lights hanging from the theater stage. She looked back and forth from the setup on stage to me, an unspoken question on her face.

"How did you…when did you…I can't believe you did this!"

We walked down the aisle toward the stage, where after assisting her up the steps, I pulled out her seat for her to sit. Once we were both seated, the second waiter produced a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses of the sweet alcohol.

"Jasper, this is too much!"

"Too much what?"

"Too much for me," she said, hanging her head down.

I reached across the table and lifted her chin with my finger. "Babe, it's not nearly _enough_ for you."

"Jasper…"

"I don't deserve you, I never have."

"Don't say that."

"It's true," I said. "You are my world, my everything, and I never want you to forget it."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

The waiters served our meal, announcing each dish as it was served. Celery and octopus salad with chili and lemon, peppercorn roasted pork with vermouth pan sauce, zucchini, corn and basil fusilli with bacon, and for dessert, spiced applesauce cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I had left the menu selection up to Char—I would have been happy with a blue cheese cheeseburger with garlic parmesan French fries—but Bella seemed to enjoy the food, and that's what was important.

Classical music played softly in the background and Bella and I took our time eating, talking, laughing and just being together. It was a nice change of pace from our normal life, and I made a mental note to make sure to do more things like this for her, for us.

"So, are you ready for dessert?"

"I'm so stuffed, I don't think I could eat another bite," she said, grinning and holding her stomach.

I signaled for the dessert to be served. "I think you'll like what I have planned."

One of the waiters brought out the dessert and poured more champagne for us.

"Ooohh, this looks so good!" she said, taking a bite of the cake. "Mmm, it is good."

As soon as the waiter left the stage, the music changed to an acoustic guitar and John Mayer walked out on stage behind Bella, playing one of her favorites, _Say._

"Gosh, the sound of that music is so clear, it's almost like hearing it live," Bella said, not aware of who was standing behind her.

I grinned as he walked forward and into her line of sight. At that moment I was glad that she hadn't taken another bite of her cake, because she would have surely choked on it. I didn't think she could have been more surprised than when we had initially walked into the theater, but I was wrong. She was glowing, bouncing in her seat and clapping.

John switched songs, going from _Say_ to _Half of My Heart_ and then to one of my favorites, _Your Body is a Wonderland._ I stood and pulled Bella into my arms. We had danced together many times before, but tonight was different. She put her head on my chest as we slow danced across the stage. I couldn't quite put my finger on the difference, but I could only describe it as feeling alive and aglow with love.

"Don't say a word, just come over and lie here with me," I sang the chorus of _Edge of Desire_ to her as we danced. "'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see/ I want you so bad, I'll go back on the things I believe/There I said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me."

"Are you really scared that I'll forget about you?" Bella asked in a whisper.

It took me a moment to say anything simply because, in admitting it out loud to her, I had just confirmed my own fear. "Yeah, sometimes."

"I love you Jasper, you make me whole and I could never forget about you. I don't know how I lived this long without you in my life, and I never want to lose you."

We stopped dancing and just stood there holding onto each other for the remainder of the song. John switched to yet another song, playing softly as he exited the stage, leaving us alone.

Before we had left the house I had made sure to stop by the safe in Emmett's office and grab the ring that I had bought for Bella a few weeks before. Ever since the night I had found out that Bella wasn't pregnant, I was uncertain about when I would propose, and figured that I would know the moment when it came.

This was the moment. Time seemed to stop and everything else in the world faded to black. We were the only two people on the planet and nothing could be more perfect than where we were.

I could feel the ring box burning a hole in my pants pocket, itching to see the light of day.

I pulled away and looked down at her beautiful upturned face. "Bella?"

"Yes?"

I wiped her tears away with my thumbs. "I love you. You make me laugh, you make me cry, and sometimes you make me want to rip out my hair," we both laughed. "And I never want us to be apart. So Bella-"

I was just about to get down on one knee when the auditorium doors banged shut. I turned toward the sound of running feet, automatically shifting Bella behind me before I could even see who it was.

"Jasper!" Paul said, running toward us. "We've got a problem."

I loved Paul like a brother, but I was seriously considering murdering him. I could shoot him and then hide the body in the back woods behind the McCarty house. No one would know, right?

"Paul, this had better be good-like fuckin' life threatening good for you to interrupt like this," I said through clenched teeth.

"I just got a call from Felix; someone broke into McCarty Enterprises about an hour ago. He called Emmett, but well, you know he's not coherent right now."

"Oh no!" Bella exclaimed. "My lab! Did he say anything about my lab?"

Dammit, this was important, but it wasn't life threatening important that it couldn't wait another thirty seconds. The look on my face must have shown what I was thinking, because Paul suddenly took several steps back.

"Umm no, he didn't mention it. He just said that the police are there but they need either you or Emmett to be present before they can fully investigate and for the police report."

I shoved the ring box back into my pocket and tossed my car keys to him. "We'd better go then. Can you bring my car around Paul?" I pulled Bella to me and kissed her forehead. "Sorry about the interruption."

"It's okay, I had more than a nice time. I love you, and thank you for all of this."

I felt defeated and disappointed, but was trying not to let it show to Bella. "I love you too, and we'll do it again sometime soon. I promise."

I paid the waiters and we said our goodbyes to John. Bella took a moment to take as many pictures with him as she possibly could before we left.

The night air was cold and I'm glad that I had asked Paul to bring the car around; I didn't want Bella out in the air, waiting for a cold car to warm up.

"Oh no, I forgot my purse!" She jumped back out of the car and ran toward the front doors of the theater. "It's locked! But they have to still be in there." She said, beating on the door.

"Maybe they're around the side of the building," I said, slamming my own car door and headed toward the backstage door.

But I didn't get very far, because the car exploded into a fiery inferno.

* * *

**A/N: So what do you think? Let me know, reviews fuel my muse, and they make me write faster-see, this one is two days early!**

**Thanks guys for your continued support!**


	27. Chapter 27

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 27**

**Thanks so much to the bestest betas in the universe: Cullen818 and JamesRamsey-you guys rock my twi world!**

**Also, a very big thank you to GLee68, who graciously answered all of my medical questions. Thanks babe!**

**So you know who owns it, and it definitely ain't me!**

**

* * *

****BPOV**

Up until this point in my life, I always thought that those who said, when under extreme duress, that their life flashed before their eyes, were being overly dramatic and sensitive. As I saw the flames, felt the heat from the blazing inferno that was Jasper's car, and in horror, watched as my boyfriend, my love and the reason that I woke every morning to endure this thing called life, lay bleeding and screaming in pain as flames burned through his pant leg, I realized that I was the one who was wrong.

In the three seconds it took me to react, I saw every kiss, every look, and I felt every touch that we had ever shared. I heard every loving word, every laugh and every argument we had experienced, and in my mind, I cataloged them, less it be the last time I should see them with such clarity.

Jasper had been standing at the car, about to get into the driver's seat, when I jumped out to go back into the theater for my purse. Paul had already gone off to get his own car. We had planned to meet back at the house, where Paul would then get into our car with us before heading to the City.

Jasper suggested that the waiters would probably be exiting from the backstage door, and not five seconds after he had slammed the car door to go around the building, the car exploded.

Right as I was knocked down from the explosion, I saw him-I fucking _saw_ the best thing that had ever happened to me-being thrown through the air from the force of the explosion. He landed in a heap and did not immediately move.

And as the shrapnel rained down on me, slicing through my coat and cutting my arms, legs, hands, face and all other exposed skin, I knew that nothing else in the world mattered-not the lab, not the engine I was redesigning, not the fact that McCarty Enterprises would be world renowned for making scientific breakthroughs—it was all for fail if I lost Jasper.

I crawled to him through the snow; over glass, twisted burning metal and other sharp debris. I peeled my heavy coat off and flung it over his burning left leg, beating out the fire; praying that I had gotten to him in enough time for there not to be too much damage.

"Bella!"

"I'm here baby." I finished beating the flames out before crawling up toward his head. I was scared that when the flames reached the gas tank of the car that another explosion, perhaps a larger one, would occur. But I also knew that moving Jasper before assessing his injuries could be fatal—I could easily sever his spinal cord or break his neck.

"Just lie still," I said, trying not to cry. I had to be strong and think sensibly. I noticed blood running out of one of his ears, a sure sign that the eardrum had ruptured, so I spoke a little louder for him to hear me. "I need to check you out J."

"You're…bleeding…badly." He reached out a bloody, shaking hand and touched my forehead. His own face was bleeding and his hands were cut up with scrapes, punctures from flying metal and I could smell burnt flesh.

"No, I'm fine," I lied. My left arm felt like it was on fire and I could see the blood pooling on the snow beside him, but said nothing to Jasper about it, and disturbed the snow so that he couldn't see it.

"So…dizzy…" Just as soon as he said the words I saw his abdomen heave, and I quickly rolled him over so that he could vomit in the snow.

"Better?"

"I –I love you Bella."

I kissed the tip of his nose—the only safe, uninjured spot that I could see on his face. "I love you too baby. Can you tell me if you can feel your legs?"

"Yeah, one feels like a popsicle and the other a hot dog."

We laughed a little.

"Okay, I need to move you away from the car before the gas tank explodes, but –"

"No, just move me."

"Your spine may be injured," I argued. "I could paralyze you."

He shook his head and pushed himself up on his elbows, moaning with the motion. "No, it's just my leg. I'll push with my good one while you pull."

We didn't have time for me to argue about how dangerous moving him could be, so I kicked off the other shoe that I still had on, and moved around behind him. I hooked my forearms underneath his arm pits and on the count of three, heaved his body through the snow as he dug into the ground with his good foot and pushed with all of his might.

As soon as we were at a safe distance, the car exploded again, sending another round of flying debris. I threw myself over Jasper, protecting him from the raining metal and glass. I could feel the bits of car fragments cutting through my dress and searing my exposed skin. I bit my tongue to keep from crying out in pain. When I was sure that the metal shower was over, I cautiously moved off of Jasper. He rolled himself over and threw up again.

"You shouldn't have done that," he chastised hoarsely. "Your back…"

"It's nothing. I'm fine," I said, surveying his body.

His over coat was cut into singed ribbons, but from what I could see in the orange flickering light of the fire, and what was left of the lights surrounding the front of the theater, his suit coat had remained somewhat intact underneath. I hoped that meant that his torso had been protected, and that none of his internal organs had been damaged.

"Bella-"

"Now be quiet and lie still while I check you over."

I was freezing, my teeth were starting to chatter; I was cut up and bleeding from several different places, but that did not stop me from trying to provide him with basic first aid. I checked his pupils, pulse and listened to his breathing. Next, I slipped my hands inside of his coat and felt around for any injuries. He giggled when I reached a particularly ticklish spot—I think he did that more for my benefit, trying to prove that he was okay and for me not to worry so much.

"Jasper! Bella!" Paul screamed, running toward us. He fell into the snow beside us, and pulled out his phone to call emergency services. "I got down the street, saw the explosion and came back. How bad are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, but Bella's freezing," Jasper said.

Would the man ever stop worrying about me? I hoped not, because I sure would never stop worrying about him; I loved him even more for it.

I accepted the coat Paul pulled off and he carefully draped it around my shoulders. He looked at me and then at what I assume was the deep cut on my arm and the lacerations on my back. I dismissed his question before he had a chance to ask it. "I'm fine, but I need to look at your leg Jasper."

"No, just stay here beside me. Please," he said, reaching for my hand.

"Jasper-"

"Please Bella. There's nothing we can do out here anyway. Just wait for the ambulance."

"He's right Bella," Paul said. "We can't do anything about it out here."

What they both said made sense, so I stayed beside his head, crouched over him, clutching his hands and whispering words of love and encouragement as we waited for the ambulance. Sound Beach was not a large community and within mere minutes the police, FBI, ATF and paramedics were there, investigating and loading Jasper and I into the back of the ambulance.

Once we got to the hospital I protested when they separated us into separate trauma rooms. I knew that it wasn't practical for us to be together while they worked on us, and even though I was pretty sure that Jasper's injuries were not fatal, I was still scared that I would never see him again.

"Oh my God Bella," Carlisle said, coming into the room. "Every time I turn my back, there's something going on with you."

There were doctors and nurses all around me, poking and prodding and cleaning wounds. "I know Carlisle, but I'm okay. Could you please go work on Jasper?" I asked franticly.

"Bella, you're not okay. You're covered from head to toe in cuts, burn marks and lacerations."

"But Jasper's leg…I think it's really bad Carlisle," I sobbed.

He pulled a stool up to the head of the bed and sat down. "Bella sweetie, calm down. Jasper is a fighter and he'll be okay."

"But what if something else is wrong? I can't lose him too."

He leaned over, kissed my forehead and then briefly touched his forehead against mine. It was something similar to what we used to do when I was a child, but instead of the high five that normally followed, he laced his fingers through my own. I stifled a cry at the memories that surfaced from that simple act of affection. Besides Emmett, Carlisle had been more of a father to me than my own at times.

"Bella, I've known you since you were a baby, and you know that I wouldn't lie to you. Believe me when I say that Jasper will be fine. You will not lose him, I promise."

"I need to see him." I winced at the I.V needle that was stuck into my arm.

"You've lost quite a bit of blood from a deep cut on your arm young lady, not to mention all of the metal they've just pulled out of your back. They're going to stitch you up, but first they need to deaden your arm and give you something for the pain. It's going to make you sleep for a while, okay?"

I could feel my eyes getting heavy with the sedative that they had given me. "Go sit with him Carlisle. Watch the other doctors and make sure they fix him right. Please," I pleaded with him, "for me?"

"Okay baby girl, I will, you just rest now."

**XXXX**

Carlisle had pulled a few strings and had gotten Jasper and I assigned to the same room, and since we had been admitted, the room had been abuzz with activity. Emmett, Rose, Peter and Char had been in and out of the room for the last few hours; Paul had run over to a nearby diner to pick up dinner. The orderlies had just wheeled Jasper down to therapy; it was nice to be left alone for a while, but the room was eerily quiet.

There was a knock on the door and I put down the book I was reading, pulling the hospital blankets and sheets higher. I didn't like the thin hospital gown I was wearing because it showed an outline of everything underneath, and because of the wounds on my back, I couldn't wear a bra.

"Come in."

Carlisle and Esme were coming to sit with me until Paul got back, so I was not expecting to see the person whose head popped in through the door.

"Bella?" James asked.

"Oh hi James," I said, shivering with the funny feeling that went through me. I checked the clock on the wall, hoping that I could get rid of James before Jasper came back from therapy. I didn't need him getting upset and popping out his stitches.

James came all the way into the room and sat down at the chair beside the bed. "So how are you?"

"I'm okay, but you didn't have to come all the way down here on Christmas Day James, a phone call would have sufficed."

"No, after your argument with Jasper, and now this, well I just needed to see for myself that you were okay. Plus, I have family in town."

"Oh." _Wait a minute, what did he just say? _I thought. "Wait a minute, what did you just say? You have family in Sound Beach?"

He nodded. "Yeah, an uncle and a few cousins."

"I thought you're family was from Georgia."

"Most of them are. Georgia is where I grew up until my parents divorced when I was eleven. Then my mom and I moved to Greenwich the summer I turned twelve."

Something about the way he was looking at me was starting to seriously creep me out. "You never told me that," I said, looking around the room for a blunt object.

There was nothing at hand, save for the hardback, eight hundred page vampire book that I had been reading by some Stephenie Meyer chick. The book corners were pretty sharp, but I would have to hit him pretty hard with it, and my left arm, the one that had been cut by a piece of sharp flying metal, was being held to my body in a sling.

"There are a lot of things about me you don't know Bella."

I felt around under the sheets for the TV/nurse call button remote, but came up empty. I then saw the remote on the bedside table—which was on the other side of James!

Think Bella. THINK!

"What other things don't I know about you James?" I asked, trying to distract him. I needed to keep him talking while I thought out an escape plan.

He suddenly moved to sit beside me on the bed. "Well for one, I'm in love with you."

"W-what?" I asked stupidly. "What did you say?"

Think Bella!

He caressed my face with his fingers. "I said that I'm in love with you."

I pushed his hands away. "No, no James. I think you'd better leave now."

He kissed the fingers on my right hand. "I'll never leave you Bella. I've been in love with you for fifteen years, and I'm not going anywhere now."

Fuckin' THINK!

"Fifteen years?"

He nodded. "Ever since Science Camp."

"Science Camp! It was you in the photo?"

THINK!

"I've been following you from afar ever since the first day you argued with that Camp Counselor. You're so smart and beautiful and I just couldn't help myself."

_If I could fake an emergency and alert the nurses to come check on me, then surly they would make him leave_, I thought. I started breathing hard and wheezing. Granted, it hadn't worked when Edward had kidnapped me, but James didn't know me as well as Edward had.

"Call…the nurse…can't…breathe."

"You can't fake an asthma attack with me Bella."

_FUCK! What the hell? How could this not work?_ My inner deviant yelled at me.

"I want you to leave James!"

"I told you that I'm not ever leaving you!"

"I'm in love with Jasper, not you. GET OUT!" I started screaming but was cut off when his hands clamped down over my mouth.

"I may have failed in killing Jasper with that bomb, but what I have planned for him next won't fail. I promise you that. And then we'll be together forever!"

I clamped down on his hand with my teeth as hard as I could, took a deep breath and screamed for all that I was worth when he released my mouth.

"Bella! Bella wake up!"

I opened my eyes to see Peter sitting on the side of my bed, holding me and trying to keep me from wildly swinging out with my good arm. I felt my chest tightening, and I couldn't catch my breath.

"James…bomb…Jasper…"

"It was just a dream Bells," Peter said, pushing the inhaler into my hand. "Calm down, okay?'

I used the inhaler twice and let the medicine settle in my lungs. "B-but…he said…where's Jasper?"

"He's in his room."

It was something about the way Peter said '_his room'_ that had me worried. I started to get up but he stopped me. "_His _room? Is he okay? What's going on?"

"Just lay back down hun," Char said, pressing me back into the pillows. "Jasper's sleeping, and recovering nicely from his surgery."

"Surgery?"

"He had a piece of metal imbedded in his left thigh. It was in so deep that they had to do surgery to remove it," Peter explained.

"How bad was he burned?"

"It's not too bad, considering that it _was_ a bomb. He's got first and second degree burns from his mid thigh to his ankle, and then just little burns and cuts all over from the flying metal, much like your own."

Thank God I had put the fire out before it had burned him too badly. I knew that third degree burns took months to heal, and with so many people out to harm the both of us now, Jasper and I needed to heal as fast as we could. "I need to see him," I said, trying once again to get up.

Peter and Char looked at each other, and then at me. "Not right now lil' mama," Peter said.

"Why not?" I demanded. "Is he worse than you said?"

"No, it's not that."

"Then what?"

Peter let out the breath he had been holding. "He lost a lot of blood from his leg, and even though they aren't third degree burns, it's pretty painful, so they've been keeping Jasper sedated since the surgery. Since he's technically not alert, and Mom is listed as his next of kin…"

"And she's keeping me out of the room," I finished for him.

He nodded. "I've been trying to talk to her all morning, but Carlisle says that until he wakes up, there's not much he can do."

"Then it should just be a few hours, right?" I asked, hopeful, noticing that the beside clock flashed four o'clock in the evening.

Char nodded. "Carlisle says that they plan to wake him tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning! I can't wait that long to see him. He'll be worried if I'm not there when he wakes up. You have to talk to her again Peter."

"I will Bella, just relax."

"I need to be there. He needs me, and I have to tell him about James," I said, clutching Peter's shirt.

"That was just a dream sweetie," Char said.

I shook my head. "No, I think it's what really happened."

"Peter, you have to find James and follow him, watch him like you guys are watching Alice," I said, wiping at the tears running down my cheeks. "Promise me that you won't let him hurt Jasper. Promise me."

"I promise, I promise. Just calm down and relax."

I blew my nose on the tissue that Char handed me, and tried to calm my nerves. My head was swimming in a medicine induced fog and I couldn't stop crying. I had to find a way into Jasper's room before the next morning. Even if he was sedated, I knew that with the connection we shared, he would know I was there.

"I have to see him Peter. Please."

"Okay, okay. I'll do my best," he reassured me. He sat on the edge of my bed, lightly patting my injured back while I cried against his chest. "You're gonna have to talk to the FBI, the police and the ATF later on tonight. Do you think you'll be up to it?"

I blew my nose again before speaking. "I guess. There's not much to tell though. Paul pulled the car around to the front of the theater, Jasper and I said our goodbyes to John and just as we were getting into the car, I jumped back out because I forgot my purse. Jasper said that the waiters would probably go out the backstage door, and not five seconds after he closed the car door, it exploded. I think that because Jasper had walked around the brick support column of the roof overhang, that's what saved him from being really, really hurt."

Peter nodded. "I thought as much from what I could see from the site."

There was a knock on the door, and I practically jumped out of my skin. Peter squeezed my good hand reassuringly before moving to open the door.

"Hey baby sis," Em said, coming into the room with Rose following closely behind. He dropped a kiss on my forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," I lied.

Emmett knew I was lying, but he thankfully didn't press the issue.

"Well, you look better," Rose said, easing into the bed next to me. "You've got more color in your cheeks."

"I need for you to tell me everything," Emmett said, coming to sit in the chair next to the bed.

I told him the same story I had just told Peter and then added my dream about James and that I now thought that he was the one after me.

"Why would he take the chance of killing you too though?" Char asked. "If he knew where Jasper was, then he knew you were with him. A car bomb would kill you both."

"But who else would want Jasper dead?" Rose asked. "He has to be alive for what Alice wants with him."

"I don't know, it makes no sense to me why, or even if, James would want you dead," Peter said.

"Jasper thinks he wants my research."

"Yeah, but at some point in time, James would have to prove that he was the one behind all of the science, and while he's smart, he's not that smart. When it came down to it, everyone would know that he was a phony," Emmett said.

"Why, all of a sudden, would a dream have you thinking that James is the one?" Peter asked.

I shrugged, and then winced at the pain the motion caused. "I honestly don't know Peter. It's just a feeling I have. It always turns out to be the one that you least expect, and I expect him the least."

Rose's phone rang, and she slid off the bed to grab her purse.

"I'll get Paul to put a tail on James. We'll watch him for a few days to see if he's doing anything suspicious."

"Why are you limping Rose?" Char asked.

"Because she slipped on some ice in the parking lot and probably needs to have her hip x-rayed, but is refusing," Emmett said.

"You need to go get checked out Rose," I said, looking at her and then at Char with a knowing glance.

Since she had been pregnant, Rose had started bumping into and tripping over things that she never had before. She had never hurt herself, but now, with her face twisted in agony, she looked like she was really injured. If she agreed to an x-ray, then she would have to answer the question they always ask females before giving them the lead apron: _Do you know if you are pregnant?_

"I'm okay guys," she said, hanging up the phone. She motioned with her eyes that she didn't want to discuss it in front of Emmett.

"We can ask Carlisle to take a look at it if you want," Em offered. "His shift starts in a few minutes. I'm sure he could probably even take over for the x-ray tech if it makes you more comfortable."

"I don't know," she said.

"You should go Rose," Peter said. He didn't know about the baby either.

"Look, I'll go with you, and afterwards, I'll buy you an ice cream like I used to for Bella every time she had to have one," Em teased, winking at me.

Rose looked to Char and then at me for help to get her out of this situation, but we both turned our heads, pretending to look out the window.

"C'mon Rosie," Peter said. "It doesn't hurt."

"I can't, Emmett."

"Why not?"

"I-I'm just…it's just that…" She took a deep breath. "Because I'm pregnant," she mumbled.

"Because you're who?"

"I'M PREGNANT!" She blurted out, yelling. "I don't want to have an x-ray because I'm pregnant."

Emmett jumped out of the chair he was sitting in, pushing it backwards, knocking over my IV stand and pulling the alert cord. "WHAT? I'm gonna fuckin' kill that bastard Sam! How could you do this to me? You're supposed to have _my_ kid one day. I'm the one that loves you!"

"It's not Sam's baby you big goof, it's _yours_!"

"_MINE?"_

The door flew open and two nurses ran in. "What's the emergency?"

"Sorry, we're sorry," Char said. "We accidentally knocked over the IV stand."

"It's time for it to be changed anyway," the nurse said. "I'll be right back with a new bag."

"Are you sure?" Emmett asked, in a much calmer voice, once the nurses left. He stumbled back and sat down hard into the chair he had just knocked over.

"Am I sure what?" Rose asked, hands on her hips. She had that '_don't-mess-with-me'_ expression on her face.

"Maybe you guys should step out and have this conversation in private," I offered.

"No, we're all family here," Rose said, looking around at us before settling her gaze on Emmett. "Am I sure of what Emmett?"

"Are you sure that it's mine?" He asked, eyes resting on her stomach. "I mean, I've been dreaming of having babies with you since well, forever it seems. But now that you've been going out with this Sam guy…"

"Sam and I are just friends Emmett. He knows that I'm in love with you. And yes, it's your baby."

"How…what…I mean…" Emmett fell to his knees in front of her. "Can I see him?"

She raised her shirt, showing off her tiny, tell tale, twelve week baby bump. "It could be a girl, ya know."

His hands hovered above her stomach. "Or it could be both," he suggested, grinning.

"Hush your mouth Emmett McCarty!"

He finally touched her stomach, running his large hands over the small mound. "Hey little one, I'm your daddy." I couldn't see Emmett's face from where I was lying in bed, but we all could hear the quiver in his voice as he spoke to his unborn child. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Rose took a moment to compose her thoughts. "Things between us haven't been good for a while, and I wanted to make sure that you wanted me for me, not because I was having your baby."

Emmett kissed her stomach then pulled her shirt back down. "And how do you think I feel now?"

"I don't know," she said softly.

"Yes you do, Rosie. You know exactly how I feel because I've been telling you and showing you for months now," Emmett said angrily. "So tell me, when were you going to tell me about my child? After he was born?"

"I was trying to find the right moment Em."

"Yeah, I guess it would be difficult to find the right moment when you're out with _Sam_ all the time!"

"He's my friend, that's all!"

Rose and Em stopped their conversation when the nurse came back in. She gave us a wary look over the top of her eye glasses while she changed my IV then checked my bandages. She offered me pain killers, and although my arm was sore and it seemed like I could feel each stitch, and the scrapes and burns on my legs were itching, I didn't want to feel sleepy and lethargic from the pain killers, so I declined.

"Hey guys, how about you discuss this a little later on?" Peter suggested. "Maybe at home, alone, after you've calmed down."

"Yeah, 'cause right now I'm a little more than pissed off." Emmett kissed my forehead again. "I'll be back later Bells. Call me if you need anything."

"Don't leave like this Emmett," I pleaded with him.

"No, let him leave Bella." Rose said, tears in her eyes. "That's the one thing he's good at when it comes to me." She snatched her purse out of the chair and ran out of the room crying.

"Go after her Emmett," I said.

"Why should I?" He asked stubbornly.

"Because you love her," Char said. "And because she's already insecure enough about your relationship without you adding something new it."

"And because she needs to get checked out from her fall," Peter said.

Emmett sighed, yanking on his hair. "Where do you think she ran off to?"

"Probably the nursery to see the babies," I said. "It's where I would go if I were her."

"Okay, if she comes back here, stop her from leaving again and call me," Emmett said before leaving the room.

I sat up in bed with a renewed purpose. "I'm gonna need your help with something Char."

"Sure thang hun, what's up?"

**XXXX**

"Okay, let's roll!" Peter said, shoving his phone in his pocket before taking off running down the hospital hallway, pushing me in a wheelchair. Char had just sent the confirmation that we needed—she had successfully extracted the demon bitch from Jasper's room, and I was cleared for entry. We took a turn at ninety miles an hour, nearly upsetting a food cart and an old man on a walker with a full catheter. I shuddered at the thought of us running into that full catheter bag. Murderers, stalkers, car bombs and crazy ex girlfriends were things that I could handle, but being showered in hot piss was where I drew the line. My nerves could not take that.

We came to a skidding halt right outside of Jasper's door. Char could only convince Maria to leave the room for a quick cup of coffee and a trip to the gift shop, so I had maybe twenty minutes before the Bride of Chucky would return, hence the need for Peter to act like Mario Andretti in the hallways of Sound Beach Medical Center.

Peter had gone toe-to-toe with his mother on why she would not allow me into Jasper's room. It didn't make sense for her to verbally spar with her own son to keep me from seeing Jasper. I mean, who did she think was going to take care of him as soon as he was released from the hospital? It certainly wasn't going to be her!

There had to be more behind her dislike for me than the fact that I _might_ not be able to provide her with grandchildren. But as much as Char and Peter both talked to her about it in the last few weeks, she just simply did not have a valid reason to hate me.

It no longer mattered to me. I could live the rest of my life without being surrounded by that type of ignorance. And when Jasper and I did finally start a family, she would be the one on the outside looking in.

Peter opened the door and then rolled me in. The room was quiet and the flicker of light from the muted TV danced across Jasper's face as he slept peacefully. His face looked like my own; tiny scratches and burn marks peppering the skin. He had a tube across his top lip feeding him oxygen and an IV connected to his arm.

I grabbed the bed rail with my good hand and hoisted myself up on my two shaky feet to stand near him.

"You okay Bells?" Peter asked, making sure that I was stable enough standing before leaving us alone.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"I'll be right outside the door."

I lowered the bed rail and perched on the side of the bed, taking Jasper's hand into my own, kissing his burnt and cut up fingers. He was breathing easy, and the steady beep of the heart monitor comforted me beyond words. Carlisle had said that due to the nature of the trauma, the doctors wanted to monitor Jasper's heart while he was in the coma-like induced sleep. But truth be told, I didn't need the monitor to tell me that Jasper had a strong heart. I rested my head on his chest and could hear the beat of his heart tattooing in perfect rhythm to my own.

Thinking about how easy it would have been, and how close I had come to losing him, I couldn't stop the tears if I tried. Despite the tears, I wasn't sad, I was mad.

I wanted to find whoever had done this to Jasper, to us, and I wanted them to pay for it. What gave them the right to decide when we lived or died? What gave them the right to take away my peace, my safety and invade my life and make me live in fear? Who did they think they were to try to take away the best thing that had ever happened to me?

No one had that right. And even though I didn't have the answers, I was tired of living like this. It was time for this shit to end.

"I love you Jasper, and I'm gonna help you do whatever it takes to get our lives back to normal."

I wasn't certain if Jasper could hear me, but I told to him how I felt about him and our life together and how scared I had been, seeing him lying in the snow hurt and bleeding and not being able to do anything about it. I talked about the dream of James being my stalker and how real it had seemed. I promised him that I would do whatever it took to help him find this fucker and we would have the life together that we were meant to have.

At one point during my one sided conversation, I swore I could feel his fingers squeeze my own, but when I looked up at his face, he was still peacefully sleeping. I knew that my time was winding down, and I didn't want a confrontation with Maria, so I kissed his lips before sliding off the bed and back into my wheelchair.

I hated leaving him, but the fact that in a few short hours the doctors would bring him out of his coma-like induced sleep and that Maria would no longer be able to keep me away from him, somewhat eased my mind.

I heard a muffled shout outside the door, and before I could get settled in the wheelchair, I heard the Wicked Witch of the South behind me

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here?"

With one arm I turned the wheelchair around as best as I could to see Maria standing in the doorway.

"Maria stop-" Char said.

"Get. Out!" She stepped forward, looking like she was going to slap me. "Get out and stay away from my son!"

"Mom," Peter said, stepping between his mother and me. "Stop acting like this."

"M-Mrs. W-Whitlock, I-I j-just needed to make sure that he was okay."

"It's because of you that he's this way in the first place, so get out!" she screamed, pointing at the door.

The beeps on the heart monitor sped up, and I moved closer to Jasper, taking his hand into my own. "You can't keep us apart," I said defiantly, lightly caressing the back of his hand.

"We'll see about that."

"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked. "You don't even know me."

"I know enough."

"Tomorrow, when he wakes up, who do you think he's gonna want to see first?" I looked from Jasper to his mother. "And how do you think he'll feel when he knows that you kept me away from him?"

"He'll know that what I did, I did it for his own good," she insisted.

"She's right Maria, don't try to force him to choose between you two," Char said. "Jasper loves Bella, we all know it, and he's not going to walk away from her."

"You ruined my life; I'll not let you ruin his. Now get out!" she screamed.

"What are you talking about Mom? You just met Bella a few weeks ago."

She threw her purse into one of the chairs. "I don't want to talk about it. Now are you leaving, or do I have to call hospital security?"

"Wait a minute, you owe me an explanation," I said, trying not to get angry. There seemed to be some correlation between Jasper's heart monitor and the mood in the room. It was still beeping rather erratically and faster than I knew it should, so I was trying to control my tone of voice and attitude in order to help stabilize the atmosphere in the room.

"I don't owe you a damn thing."

"Yes you do. I invite you into my house and I try to get to know you, woman-to-woman, but you reject my efforts at every turn. Then you invite someone to dinner who you _know_ for a fact hurt your son in the past, and you have the nerve to hate _me_?"

"It was your fault that he left me!" she shouted.

"Who? Jasper?" I asked confused.

She nervously paced the room, tears running down her cheeks. "No, just forget it, and get out!"

"Oh hell no," Peter said, taking Maria's hands into his own to keep her from pacing. "What are you talking about Mom?"

She pulled away from him. "I was in love with Emmett McCarty Senior, your father Isabella."

"What?" Peter and I said in unison.

She took a deep breath and went to stand by the window. "I worked for your father as his Marketing Assistant at one of his companies in Houston nearly thirty years ago."

"You knew my father?"

She nodded. "He used to come to Houston at least once a month back then. At first it started out as just a really good working relationship, but then it progressed to more."

"You cheated on dad?" Peter asked unnecessarily.

Maria turned to face her son. "Your father and I weren't exactly in love."

"How can you say that? Dad adored you! He always told you that he loved you, and even though we didn't always have a lot of money, he tried everything he could to show you. We learned to love by watching him love you!"

"Peter calm down," Char said, wrapping her arm around his waist and lying a restraining hand on his chest.

"Your father was in love with the idea of love. He didn't understand me, or really even take the time to talk to me. He was always working—"

"He was providing for us!"

"Your father never wanted to be anything more than a mechanic!"

"So because dad was a simple man that's your excuse for whoring yourself out to the highest bidder?"

The resounding crack of Maria's hand connecting with Peter's face brought me out of my mental fog.

"Don't you speak to me that way, I loved Emmett and he loved me!"

No one said anything for a moment. I felt sick to my stomach. Everything I thought I knew about my parent's relationship was apparently a lie.

"Obviously he didn't love you enough," I said. "What, you thought he was going to leave my mother for you, and since he didn't, you're taking it out on me?"

"He did love me, he did!" she insisted, crying. "Your mother was always sick and demanding his attention."

"He was her _husband,_ what was he supposed to do, ignore her?" I asked.

She dismissed the question. "He would come to me and we would talk for hours and hours about everything! I knew how stressed he was and he just needed someone to be there for him. I needed the same thing, so we just clicked."

"He never left her. So if he loved you so much, what happened?" I asked.

"You, you happened," she spat out. "We had plans to be together, he wanted to be with me forever. He was planning to divorce her, but then her cancer went into remission and she got pregnant with you." She turned away from me before speaking again.

"When she died, it damn near killed him," she said. "He felt so guilty about our relationship that he broke it off with me. I offered to raise you and Emmett, along with my own sons, but it didn't matter what I said to him, he was adamant about keeping his family together out of respect for your mother."

"So you blame me for that?"

"I _hate_ you for taking him from me! You ruined my life! You look so much like her that it makes me sick to see you!" she wailed. "And I'll do anything to keep you away from my son!"

"That's why you jumped on Alice's side, because you thought it would break up Jasper and I?"

"Once he realizes the life he could have with her, he'll drop you like a bad habit!"

"This is ridiculous!" Peter shouted. "_You_ are the one who cheated, _you_ are the one who ruined your own life and it's crazy for you to blame someone else, someone who was an infant at the time, for your own stupidity!"

"Look everybody, just calm down," Char said.

"No, I'm not just going to calm down." Peter said, pushing Char's hands away. "You're only concerned about yourself _Mother_, and you're inflicting pain onto someone else for your own sorry existence, so get out! I don't want you around my brother or any of us that actually care about him."

"I'm his mother. You can't put me out!"

Peter grabbed her arm and started pushing her toward the door. "Wanna bet?"

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" Carlisle said, coming into the room. "What in the hell is going on in here? I can hear you guys shouting from down the hall."

"I want her thrown out!" Maria shouted.

Jasper's heart monitor sped up again. I didn't care about Maria or what had happened between her and my father before I was even born, my focus was on Jasper.

"Carlisle, check his heart, please," I begged, pulling myself up out of the wheelchair to stand beside him.

Carlisle crossed the room to the bed, hooking his stethoscope in his ears. He listened to Jasper's heart beat and checked his pulse.

"What's wrong with my baby?" Maria asked, coming to stand on the other side of Jasper.

"He's fine, but no more of this arguing in here. It's very possible that he can hear you, and it's got to be stressful to listen to. If you guys want to hash something out, you'll have to leave this room to do it. I don't want to have to ban either of you from the hospital," he warned.

Under Maria's evil eye I kissed Jasper one last time. No, I didn't want to leave him, but I also didn't want to fight with his mother in front of him under the present circumstances. Someone had to take the high ground here; his health was more important to me than getting my point across to her.

I whispered to him that I loved him and allowed Peter to take me back to my own room, exhausted and weary. The doctors had planned to wake him bright and early the next morning, and if I planned to take care of him, then I needed to be strong enough to do so.

The doctors did indeed wake Jasper the next morning, and the first person he asked for was, of course, me. I was waiting outside of the door when Maria stormed out, knocking down a nurse in the process. Jasper and I spent the whole day together, crammed into his hospital bed and curled around each other. We were both pretty banged up, and each movement one of us made caused the other quite a bit of pain and discomfort. It was, however, not enough to keep us apart.

"I want to apologize to you on my mother's behalf," Jasper said. He caressed the back of my hand that was lying on his chest.

"You can't apologize for something you didn't do Jasper." I had to speak a little louder than normal because of his burst eardrum. His healthy eardrum just happened to be on the same side of his injury, and because of that, I could not lie next to him on that side.

"I just feel like…like she took your father away from you."

Emmett and I had discussed that very thing earlier, and we had both came to the same conclusion about it all. Our parents were adults, and the mistakes they had made, were their own to make. I didn't know if what Maria had said about her relationship with my father was true, simply because Emmett had witnessed our father's love for our mother. It was possible that Maria had mistaken him being with her to satisfy his physical needs, as love for her. It was also possible, as Peter pointed out, that Father was in love with both women, and his sense of duty as a family man swayed his decision to end the affair when he did.

One thing was for certain though, we would never know the truth, and in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter enough to me to let it skew the memory of my father anyway. I never had the opportunity to know my mother, but what I did know of my father, he was loving toward Emmett and I, and that was what mattered. I told Jasper as much.

"No, she didn't take him from me. He was a grown man, capable of making his own decisions. So whatever they did or didn't do, it doesn't matter."

We dropped the subject from there on out. With a dramatic flair, Maria whined that since she was not needed to assist with Jasper's recovery, packed her bags and once again left Sound Beach. Needless to say, none of us were sad to see her go.

The police, FBI and ATF had all spoken to me the day before, and had then congregated in Jasper's room shortly after he had awaken. They had no leads, no suspects and nothing substantial to go on even if they did have a person of interest in mind. The only useful thing that they could tell us was that the bomb appeared to have been set on a timed detonator, with a manual override system that had been tripped and then the bomb had been detonated with a remote.

Using a remote detonator meant that whoever was responsible for setting the bomb, had to have been watching us from a distance, and when he, or she, saw that a timed explosion would not work to capture whichever one of us was the target, decided to override the system and manually detonate the bomb. This also meant that since Jasper was the one closest to the car, he was the obvious target.

This made me more determined to find out of James was the one behind it. I didn't think that Alice was the culprit, because like Rose had said the day before, Jasper had to be alive for what she wanted out of him. That only left James, or whoever my stalker/killer was. The fact that the bomb could have been used simply to scare us, and not really harm us, also crossed my mind. Perhaps it was just another _threat_.

The doctors would not release Jasper for almost a week. They wanted to make sure that his burn wounds were healing properly and that, even though they were first and second degree burns, there was no sign of infection setting in. His leg was healing nicely from the surgery, and the burns surrounding the wound only need to be wrapped in heavy gauze.

It was the lower part of his leg-from just below the knee to his ankle-that concerned me the most. It was mostly all second degree burns that wrapped around his calf and scorched his shin. He needed to wear a compression stocking on this part of his leg for circulation and to keep bacteria out.

It hurt for him to walk, yet he pushed himself up and down the hospital hallways anyway, holding his breath against the pain and turning bright red with exhaustion. I huffed along right beside him, supporting his weight when he wanted to give up, running to find a wheelchair when he absolutely had to sit down, and clapping with encouragement when he could walk unaided by the handrails.

Even though the doctors had released me from their care the second day, I hadn't left the hospital—or Jasper's side for that matter—in the week or so that he remained in the hospital. This also meant that I hadn't been into the City to McCarty Enterprises to check on my lab either. Once released, instead of going home, Jasper was desperate to get back to work, and insisted that we go into the City to check on things.

My lab was the only part of the ten floors of McCarty Enterprises that had been touched by the burglar. Because I couldn't personally be available to oversee the clean up process, I had Felix and his security team seal off everything and all of my employees that worked on that floor were given time off or reassigned other tasks until further notice. No one was allowed on the same floor and even a guard was posted outside of the door during working hours.

Things were worse than I had expected. The walls had been spray painted with obscenities, expensive microscopes, computers and other equipment had been turned over and broken; glass crunched underfoot with each step I took and just everything was topsy turvy.

"_I won't let you have him! He's mine, and always has been! Die bitch!" _Peter read from the spray painted walls.

"Is Alice really this stupid?" I asked. "Surely she would know that we would go after her for doing this."

"So she trashes the place and then tries to blow you guys up?" Char asked. "That seems a little…"

"Crazy?" I asked. "Yeah, this has crazy written all over it."

"No, what I mean is just like you said, why would she do this knowing that she would be the first one suspected? She couldn't have done this and made it to Sound Beach in time to blow you guys up. Sorry," she added when I frowned at her word choice.

"Char's right," Jasper said, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "Colin and Brady say that Alice hasn't been anywhere near here in two weeks. Whoever did this, it wasn't her."

"Is it possible that she got away from them at some point?" I asked.

"Anything is possible, but Colin and Brady are good at what they do, that's why they work for me."

"So it this isn't her handy work, who's is it then?" I asked. Jasper righted a fallen stool and made me sit down. With a heavy sign I lost the battle of tears and let them fall.

Jasper pulled me close and kissed my temple. "We're gonna find out babe. I promise."

My only consolation was that my engine and the chemical formulas for the fuel that I had worked on for nearly half my life had been locked in the giant, tamper proof man sized vault, of which Emmett and I were the only ones to have the key and combination to.

Peter perched on the edge of my lab table, taking notes and then snapping pictures of the wreckage. "Who the hell could it have been then?" Peter mused aloud to himself.

"Hey Bella," Jasper said, rummaging around in the box that housed _Bella 2.0_. "_Bella 2.0_ is in here, but those pictures aren't."

"Maybe they're in James's office," I said.

I had assigned a small office off the side of the lab for James. It had a large double insulated glass picture window—that was now cracked and about to shatter into a million pieces-that overlooked the lab. Even though the window was shattered, the door remained locked, with the office dark and the blinds drawn tight. I tossed the keys to Jasper. He carefully limped across the lab toward the office.

"When's the last time you've actually been in his office?" Jasper asked, unlocking the door and flipping on the light.

I wiped my face and blew my nose on the tissue that Peter handed to me. "Not since I hired James and assigned it to him. Why?"

"I think you need to see this then."

Jasper stepped out of the way when he heard my approach. I gasped at the sight before me.

"You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks so much to all of my readers and reviewers! I love hearing from you guys, so tell me what ya think! Hit that review button down there!**

**I know that I took a few liberities with Jasper's injuries, but really, he needs to heal fast in order to find out who the stalker/killer is- and I just couldn't find it within me to hurt him too bad! LOL**


	28. Chapter 28

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 28**

**Thanks for red penning this Cullen818 and JamesRamsey! I heart you both for putting up with my long chapters!**

**Thanks to all my readers, those who have reviewed and those who have put this on your alerts/favorites list. If you're waiting until the end to review, don't. Go ahead and let me know what you think about it! **

**I apologize for not updating last week. This chapter was HARD because I've been dealing with the worst case of writer's block ever! So let me know what you think.**

**SM owns it!**

* * *

**Alice POV**

"You are so fucking stupid! You were supposed to detonate the bomb _before_ he got anywhere near the car!" I screamed. "It was just to scare him, not hurt him!

"He's not hurt, well, not _badly _hurt that is."

"He could have been killed! What good is he to me if you kill him?"

"Relax short stuff, his magic stick is still in place, and I would suppose, still fully functional."

I paced the floor of the empty apartment, thinking of ways to eliminate Bella from Jasper's life. I didn't know if my newly formed partnership with this lunatic was going to work or not, but we formed an alliance based on our mutual desire for one thing: to rid the world of one Isabella McCarty.

Bella McCarty was a pain in my neck and her very existence put a damper on my plans for motherhood. There was no way that I could face Jane after I had already told her the good news. She was under the impression that the infertility treatments that I had undergone had been successful.

What she didn't know was that, after I had learned of Jasper being in town, I canceled my appointments and had started planning to get what I need from him the old fashion way. Thank God Jane was out of the country and on tour for another couple of weeks, because that gave me enough time to figure out how to take care of Bella and to ensure that Jasper impregnated me.

Who would have thought that accepting that insane invitation from Maria to join the McCarty's for Thanksgiving would afford me the opportunity to meet someone who hated Bella McCarty almost as much as I did? And not only that, but my new partner in crime had already formulated a plan to eliminate her! We would only need to modify a few things. How sweet was that!

"And everything went okay at the lab?" I asked, wringing my hands.

"Will you please calm the fuck down? I know what the hell I'm doing," my partner snapped at me. "Stefan and I did what we were supposed to do."

"I just don't know about him. I mean, can he really be all that competent? He can't even seem to find your guy Riley anymore," I pointed out.

"He's the one that's gotten me this far, remember?"

"He's also the one who screwed up your chance of getting the research for you by leaving that bitch alive," I said, still pacing. I hated saying her name, it made my mouth feel dirty and my hands tingle in anticipation of wrapping them around her scrawny neck. So instead, I just settled for calling her 'bitch'.

"Look, everything at the lab turned out the way we planned. There's no way that they can think you're involved. And you're gonna wear a hole in my floor with all of that pacing; sit your short ass down."

I looked around the expensive loft apartment that over-looked the theater house and then back at my new partner in crime. "Sit down on what? Look around, you have nothing in here." I kicked one of the two metal chairs out of my way as I paced.

"Not yet, but once I get this bitch's research, the money will start rolling in baby!"

I laughed. "Do you really know what to do with it once you get it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" My partner asked, offended.

"I mean, you're smart and all, but you aren't Bella McCarty smart. Whatcha gonna do when they start asking you questions about the research and you can't answer them?"

"Well what are you gonna do when Jasper refuses to give up the goods?" My partner asked, sneering at me.

"Oh, no worries, he's gonna give it up." I snatched my purse off of the kitchen counter and checked my phone for the time. I had ten minutes before I had to get back across the street to play practice. "I got my shit together, you'd just better stay focused on the task at hand."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Kill Bella McCarty and we both get what we want," came the deadpanned reply.

"You might at least _try_ to be more enthusiastic about it," I chastised.

"Look, I've been planning this moment for damn near fifteen fucking years, and I'm tellin' ya baby, I'm fucking pumped that this bitch is finally going down!"

I high fived my partner. "That's exactly what I needed to hear! I'll call ya later."

With a little pep in my step, I made my way back across and down the street to the backstage entrance of the theater. It was time to step up our game on getting rid of Bella. The guy that my partner had employed to keep tabs on her was confident that he would be able to make his move any day now.

Stefan Vladimir reported back to us every time Bella and Jasper, or really anyone in the house, made a move, and since they had gotten released from the hospital—it damn near killed me that I couldn't be by his side when he was hurt-there hadn't been much movement. But I knew Jasper's personality like I knew the back of my own hand, and I knew that it would only be a matter of time before he got tired of being cooped up in their mansion and have to get back to the rest of the world.

It was only logical that Bella herself would eventually grow tired of hiding, and that was when he would strike. Yes, it was only a matter of time before I got what I wanted.

**JPOV**

"What the fuck?" Peter said, gazing at the walls in horrified astonishment. His face reflected what we were all thinking.

If someone had told me about it, I wouldn't have believed it. I would have called them a liar and laughed in their face. I didn't understand how someone could be this sick.

It wasn't just _one_ wall of pictures dedicated to Bella; it was the whole fucking office. Every damn wall was covered in pictures of her, drawings of her engine, scientific equations and theories posted over and over and just everywhere. It looked like he had any type of Bella inspired memorabilia that he could find.

It all seemed to start with the Science camp they went to as children. He had a host of pictures from that summer, her drawings of _Bella 2.0_ before she was put together, notebook pages of Bella's doodling and lists of her childhood invention ideas. There were also hair ribbons and locks of Bella's hair trapped in small Ziploc bags. He had articles of clothes pinned to the wall, and I could only guess that they had at some point in time belonged to Bella.

There were copies of her certificates of achievements dating back to when she was in Junior High school. Her yearbook picture for each year of school was hung in a separate frame, and he had scribbled love notes and poems over her face, the handwriting going from what was obviously a young preadolescent script to an older, more mature penmanship.

Scientific journals featuring Bella's published articles were taped to the walls with red hearts drawn around her face. The newspaper photographs that had captured Bella and mine private moment on the street that night in front of the theater, lie on a shelf of the bookcase, my face crossed out on some, and his face inserted on others.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Char said. "How the hell did he get all of this stuff?"

How could I have allowed this sick motherfucker to be this close to Bella, Rose and Char? How could I have allowed him to work with her, to talk to her, to come to our house and eat meals with us?

It was my fault. I should have just endured Bella's wrath and put my foot down a long time ago. Women's Liberation be damned, I should not have allowed her to hire him.

But it was too late now to be thinking about what I should have done. I needed a plan for what I was going to do.

"It's…I…there's no way that…" Bella stumbled over her words. I could practically smell her fear, because it was my own fear as well.

I turned to my brother and grabbed his arm. "Find him, and find him now. I don't care what you have to do, just find him."

"What are you planning?" Peter asked me.

"I-I don't know. I'll figure it out once you find him."

Peter, always the sensible one, grabbed my shoulders and shook me a little. "We have to think this through Jasper. We can't go running off, half cocked, on half of a plan and a full magazine clip. Someone could get killed!"

I pushed his hands off of me. "Don't you think I fucking know that Peter?"

"No, no I don't think you know it, because right now I can see in your eyes what you're thinking. You want his blood, you want to torture him and you want to slaughter him."

"I want him stopped before he hurts someone!" I shouted back.

"Hey guys, I think you need to look at this," Char said.

"What?" Peter asked.

Bella turned the laptop around to face us and clicked on an icon. "He has the house plans on his computer," she said, eyes wide with fear. "He must have gotten this stuff out of the house before we put up the fence."

"The burglar!" Char yelled, snapping her fingers. "He must have been the one a couple of months ago who tried to break in! Remember?"

Remember? How could I forget? That also happened to be the night that Bella and I had made love for the very first time. One look at Bella and I knew that she was thinking of all that had gone on that night too.

"How the fuck did he get blue prints of your house?" Peter asked.

"They were on Em's computer," Bella said. "He's good with computers, so he must have hacked into Em's files. We were in the process of remodeling right before I was attacked." She sat down with an audible thump. "I-I c-can't believe he's been in our house, and we didn't even know."

Char began furiously typing and clicking open icons on the computer. "I wonder what else he's got on here then."

"What are we gonna do?" Bella asked me, looking at me with her big round eyes.

That question infuriated me, not because she asked it, but because I didn't have the answer. I was the one that was supposed to protect her and to keep her safe. I was the one who was supposed to always be one step ahead of the bad guys and the lunatics, but here I was with no answers and no plan as to what to do next.

I was also mad because whatever I did happen to come up with, would probably have to be executed by someone else; running after a psycho required two legs, not one. My leg was throbbing, and it was taking all that I had to not just crawl _under_ a bed somewhere and stay there for the next few days resting.

I hated admitting to her–to myself-that I couldn't keep her safe.

"I think we need to call the police," Peter said when I remained mute.

"Ohmigod!" Char exclaimed, jumping up from behind the desk.

"What? What is it?" I demanded, moving to her side.

The computer screen was filled with the sight of James, standing over the very desk that Char had just been sitting at, masturbating to a picture of Bella. It was literally like a train wreck; we were all stunned, and stood there for a moment too long looking at it. Bella turned and ran out of the room. The movement from her abrupt departure brought us back to reality.

"Turn it off Char," I said, limping after Bella. "Bella babe, wait a second!" I was trying my best to catch up with her. She stopped before running out the door. "It's okay baby, just calm down."

"God Jasper, he's sick!"

"I know, I know." I pulled her inhaler out of my pocket. "Everything's gonna be okay. Alright?"

"You… can't know…that Jasper!" she choked out in between inhaling the medicine. "Look what's happened to us already! What if he succeeds the next time?"

I wrapped my arms around her, careful of the healing wounds on her back. "He's not going to succeed, trust me."

"I do trust you Jasper, but at the same time, I'm looking at the reality of the situation. Look at all that's he's done already; and right under our noses too! I mean, I worked with this sick bastard for months, I came in and out of this lab over and over and I had no idea that he was doing any of this in that office. And I didn't listen to you when you warned me about him."

I pulled back to look into her eyes and wiped her tears away with my thumbs. "Don't start blaming yourself for this. It's not your fault that this guy has been following you around for nearly half your life."

"But-"

"Look baby, I know how independent and strong minded you are, and if I'm to be honest about it all, deep down, I never really expected you to just roll over and comply with me on not hiring him in the first place. I had no real proof that he was after you until now."

"But you had a feeling about it," she argued.

"Yeah, but I had a _feeling_ that the Indianapolis Colts were gonna win the Super Bowl this year too." I shrugged. "Sometimes I'm wrong about things." I kissed her forehead. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not making light of the situation, I'm only trying to not assign blame or dwell on what we should or shouldn't have done months ago. That's not going to help us now."

"So what do we do then?"

"I think that we need to get a restraining order." As much as I hated to admit it, simply because I knew how slow and lackadaisical the judicial system worked in cases like this, I also knew that it was the wise thing to do. Not only would we have to get the New York City Police involved, but we would have to talk to the Sound Beach Police as well. We were dealing with two different states and two different judicial jurisdictions.

"What's a piece of paper going to do when he comes after me with a machete?" She asked frantically.

"First of all, he's not going to come after you with a machete," I said, and tucked the stray fly away hair behind her ear. "Second, it's not the fact that it's a piece of paper that will stop him, it's the fact that if he comes near you, we can call the police and they'll _have_ to arrest him. They can't ignore a direct court order. And at least we'll have a paper trail if it comes down to it."

"What do you mean, 'if it comes down to it'?"

I took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "If I have to kill him, whether it's self defense or defending you, then at least I'll have a legal leg to stand on in court."

"Oh."

"I want you to be prepared for the run around that the police are going to give us. It's going to be a stressful legal process and the word sympathy is not in their vocabulary."

"What if they don't believe us?"

"Babe, we've got so much evidence in that office that they have no choice but to believe us."

**XXXX**

It was ridiculous how obstinate the judge assigned to our case in New York was. After filling out the proper paperwork and submitting a box full of the shit we had pulled off of the walls in James' office, plus the police report of the lab break in as supporting evidence, we still had to wait four hours before we were granted the Emergency Restraining Order.

To know that we would have to do the same thing again in Sound Beach made me want to shoot someone, and at that moment, it didn't matter who.

Bella tried to convince me to go back home to rest while she and Peter went down to the municipal building in Sound Beach to begin the process there. As much as I needed to rest, I needed to be by her side more. She was doing her best to hide her emotions, but I could sense that she was a ball of nervous energy and that she was just plain scared.

As unyielding and uncaring as the judge in New York was, the Sound Beach Police Department was even worse. Because it was the holiday season, the one damn judge in the whole community was on vacation; which left us pleading our case to Chief Swan.

Two ton Swan strutted around in front of us, jowls swinging and stomachs vibrating with every step he took. He looked like fucking Jabba the Hutt and I had a strong urge to shove the pipe he was smoking down his fat throat.

"A box full of pictures is not enough evidence that a man is stalkin' you Miss McCarty," Swan said, pipe hanging off the tip of his lip.

Bella grabbed my arm in warning before I could jump out of the chair and get into his face. "What would you suggest we bring in Chief Swan?" I asked angrily.

"What about the fact that he has my house plans on his computer and all of these things were taken out of my home without my knowledge or consent?"

He shook his head, neck rolls swaying with the movement. "You yourself said that he's been invited into your home, and as a matter of fact, didn't I see Mr. Cope there durin' Thanksgiving?"

"Yes, but-"

"And he has not physically attacked you, correct?"

"That is correct, but-"

"But unless you have something substantial in your little box of evidence," he said, pushing the box across the desk toward us, "then I suggest that you just talk to Mr. Cope, and work out this misunderstandin'."

"Misunderstanding?"

He snorted. "These things happen all the time Miss McCarty. Lemme guess, you got into a fight with yer bo'friend here and ya wanted to make 'im jealous, so ya snuggled up next to Mr. Cope. And when Mr. Cope reciprocated a 'lil too much for ya likin', ya had to find a way to get rid of him. So ya tell yer bo'friend here that the man is stalkin' ya."

"WHAT?" I yelled, jumping up. "You can't be serious!"

"Jasper, sit down," Peter chastised, pulling me back down into my seat. "Look Chief Swan, I can assure you that this is not simply some misunderstanding. And if you'll recall, my brother and Ms. McCarty were victims of a car bombing not more than a week ago."

"And if _you'll_ recall Mr. Whitlock, we don't have any suspects connected to that car bombin'."

"So what you're trying to say is that you're not going to issue the Order?" Bella asked.

"I would be remiss to issue this Order knowing that we don't have enough evidence to support it," Chief Swan said. "But, if you would like to present your so called evidence to Judge Alistair when he returns next week, you're more than welcome to."

"What happens if this lunatic comes after us?" I asked.

Swan sat back into the desk chair, the springs and wheels creaking with strain under his enormous weight. He folded his arms behind his head, pipe hanging out from between his crusty lips. He gave us a small, tobacco stained toothy smile. "If there is an altercation, call the police."

"That's it? Call the police?" Bella jumped up screaming. "This guy could kill me, and you want me to call the fucking police!"

I grabbed Bella by the waist and pulled her back. I felt the same way she did, but now was not the time to be jumping up and down and yelling at an officer of the law—no matter how corrupt he was. "Stop baby, just calm down. It's obvious that we're not going to get anywhere here. We'll just have to talk to the judge next week."

"You can't do this to us?" Bella shouted.

"Why, because your last name is McCarty?" Swan spat out, sneering at us through those tobacco stained teeth He heaved himself up out of the chair, upsetting it and knocking it over. "Let me tell you something little girl," he pounded on the desk with a meaty finger, "the McCarty's may be the richest family in Sound Beach, in Greenwich, or hell, the whole East Coast, but that means _nothing_ to me! To me, it just means that you're bound to have someone hate you for something, and probably for good reason too. We ain't gonna go 'round 'rresting everybody that says _boo_ to ya."

"You can't just ignore me! You can't ignore the fact that someone is after me-"

"Watch me," he growled. "One less McCarty in this world ain't a bad thing, which is why I was happy to dance on your father's grave when he died!"

Peter and I grabbed Bella's arms before she could swing on Swan; on top of everything else, she didn't need to be locked up for assaulting a police officer too. Peter practically carried her out of the station while she screamed expletives at Chief Swan. I limped out behind them, grateful that I had the forethought to bring the cane they had given me at the hospital.

"I can't believe he said those things about my father," Bella moaned, her face buried into my side as Peter drove us home. "What are we gonna do?"

I smoothed her hair off of her face and kissed her forehead. "We're gonna go home, and forget about Swan. We don't need him."

"But what about the Order?"

"First thing Monday morning we'll get Jenks and as many other lawyers it takes to talk to the Judge. Until then, we're not going to worry about it."

"I just want…a normal life," Bella said. "Is that too much to ask for?"

"No baby, it's a very normal thing to ask for. And I promise you, you'll have it."

For the next few days Bella remained in a defunct state. Even the fact that Judge Alistair issued the Order was not enough to cheer her. Normally she would spend the better part of everyday in her lab, tinkering with engine parts, mixing chemicals and, at least as seemed to me, trying to blow things up. But now, she just hung out in the house, sleeping, eating, watching TV and just staring out the window.

Emmett tried to get her to agree to go away for a few days, to hang out on the beach in Florida or to go skiing at some resort that they use to go to when they were younger. Each morning Rose would suggest different things for them to do that day, everything from shopping to redecorating one of the spare rooms for the nursery, to having a paint ball war in the lower half of the backyard—yeah, she didn't think that last one through though. We tried everything we knew to pull her out of the mental hole that she crawled into, only for Bella to turn us all down and sequester herself in her room with a book.

"Alright, I've had enough. It's Friday and I need you two to get up!" Rose said, hands on her hips and standing over the bed yelling at us.

I opened an eye and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. "What the hell Rose?"

"Don't look at me with that tone of eye Jasper Whitlock. Get your ass up. And you too Isabella McCarty."

"Rose its five o'clock in the damn morning. Go the fuck away."

She gasped. "Don't you use that kind of language in front of the baby!"

"Rose-"

"I'm serious Jasper. We've got to start watching how we speak around here. I don't want my kid's first words to be 'get me a fucking bottle bitch'."

"I think that would be more like 'pull out those tits bitch'," Bella joked. "Those things are fu-huge!"

"I know right!" she said excitedly, and grabbed both breasts with her hands, pushing them up. "I had to order all new bras the other day."

_What the hell? We were seriously talking about Rose's breasts at five o'clock in the fucking morning?_

"Ugh! Go away Rose!"

"You can sleep another day Crispy," she said, pulling the blanket out of my grasp. Rose had thought it funny to call me Crispy due to the burns on my leg. I however, didn't think it was funny at all. "We've got things to do today before we celebrate."

"Quit calling me Crispy," I said, slightly offended. My whole right leg was a wreck of stitches, scabs and healing burn wounds. At one time I had been somewhat proud of the fact that I had nice looking legs-well defined calves and thigh muscles that could crack walnuts—yeah so what if I was a little vain about it. But now, I didn't even want to look at the mess that was my right leg. I snatched the blankets out of her hand and snuggled back under them. "If you weren't pregnant I'd—"

"You'd what?" She taunted.

"Enough you two," Bella said, interrupting our verbal spat. "Celebrate what?"

"Anyways!" Rose said, holding her hand, palm up, in front of my face. "We're celebrating the fact that I haven't killed your brother, yet, for acting like a bone head."

I pushed her hand out of my face. "Shouldn't you wait until _after_ the baby is born? I mean, surly he'll do something between now and then that will make you wanna kill him." I said.

Rose plopped down on my side of the bed, upsetting my balance and caused me to roll over onto my right leg. I hissed as the sharp pain ran through me. "Sorry Crispy. Actually, I've decided that I'm tired of Bella's hiding out and waiting for the bad guy to strike. I wanna go out and have some fun before I'm too fat to see my feet."

"It's not really that simple Rose," Bella said, pulling on her robe.

"Sure it is, we get dressed, we go out, and we have a good time."

"And we worry the whole time that someone is going to blow us up or jump out of the bushes and stab one of us," Bella said.

"I don't think that's gonna happen," Rose stated.

"Why?" I asked, prompting her. I was hoping that our plan to get Bella out of the house would work.

"'Cause it's five days until your hearing about the Restraining Order in New York."

"And?" I asked.

"And you said that they have to serve James with the papers at least five days before the hearing. He should have them by now, and wouldn't it be crazy for him to come after you now?"

"Umm, that's just it Rose," Bella said. "He _is_ a crazy killer."

She shook her head. "I don't think so. James may be creepy and a stalker, but I don't think he's a killer."

"And what makes you think that?" I asked.

"'Cause what good would killing you do? From what you guys described of the things on his wall, he's in love with you. Why would he kill you?"

"Maybe he's not out to kill Bella," I said. "But I can bet ya that means he's out to kill me."

"Yeah well, you we could do without," she said, and rolled her eyes joking.

I threw a pillow and hit her in the head. She snatched it up off the floor and threw it right back at me. I caught it, rolled over and tucked it and my arms behind my head. "I dunno Bells, I do think we need to get out of the house for a while."

"And go where? Someone is watching us wherever we go!" she said, frustrated. Fat tears pooled in the corner of her eyes and threaten to roll down her cheeks. I literally ached to make things better for her, I just didn't know how.

"Babe, you once told me that you weren't going to live your life in fear, remember?"

"Yes but-"

"But moping around here, refusing to even walk down the driveway to pick up the newspaper is living your life in fear," Rose said.

"Not going out to the lab in your own garage is living in fear baby."

"But Rose, you're pregnant now, and Jasper, you're hurt. I just don't want any of you to be killed because of me."

"Hun, we could walk out the front door and be struck in the head by fragments of a meteoroid. As a scientist, would that be your fault if you didn't warn us?" Rose asked.

Bella was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Okay, I see your point. But I do want to go on record as saying that I don't think going out and exposing ourselves is the wisest thing to do considering the current circumstances."

"Your objections are duly noted," Rose said grinning. "Now get dressed and pack an overnight bag."

"What? Where are we going?" I asked, feigning shock.

Rose pulled a brochure out of her back pocket and laid it on the bed. "The Riverwind Inn is a Bed and Breakfast in Deep River, Connecticut. If we leave in an hour, we can get there before lunch."

"I don't know Rose," Bella said.

I picked up the brochure and thumbed through it. "It doesn't look all that bad babe."

"A road trip? You guys seriously wanna go on a _road trip_?"

"Listen to this B," I said, sitting up and reading aloud from the brochure. "'Start each morning with the Inn's complimentary full country breakfast, served individually in our candlelit dining rooms. After breakfast, start your day exploring the Connecticut River Valley. Picture-postcard seasons, superb dining, exceptional theater, and the relaxed pace of our small villages are only a few of the many reasons visitors travel to the Connecticut River Valley. Relax on our wraparound porch in one of our rockers, or sit under a canopy of mature trees in Adirondack chairs.'"

"They also have in-room massages, complimentary champagne—not that I can have any—antique shops and an outlet mall nearby!" Rose said excitedly.

"Rose—"

"Please say yes Bella," Rose begged, hands clasped together. "We need to get out of here and have some fun!"

"But-"

"Did you see those rooms? Look how Martha Stewart they all look! And you two can have the suite with the Japanese steeping tub. Please Bella."

"C'mon B, it'll be fun," I said, imaging what we could do in that bathtub.

"Oh alright!"

Rose squealed and bounced up and down on her toes. "Great! Char and Peter are already packed, and as soon as I can get Emmett up, dressed and packed we'll be ready to go. Make sure you pack your long johns, I wanna build a bonfire by the lake!" She shouted over her shoulder before running out the door. Only Rose would want to build a bonfire in ten degree weather.

I pulled Bella into my arms and kissed her, savoring the feel of her soft lips moving against my own. "Thank you for agreeing to do this."

"You may change your mind about it all once we get on the road."

"Why?"

"You've never been on a road trip with Rose before," she said.

"Well, it can't be all that bad, can it?"

She pushed me back down onto my back, being careful of my healing wounds, ribs and burns, and straddled my hips. I thought I could see a little of the light return to her eyes, so I thrust my hips upward, grinding into her center. Yup, that light sparked!

It had been exactly sixteen days and counting since the last time I had actually been inside of Bella with something other than my tongue and finger, and _JW_ was starting to feel a little neglected. I was determined to use this trip as an opportunity to reacquaint myself with my favorite places on Bella's body, from the inside out.

"You want to strangle her on a daily basis already J. Just imagine being trapped with her in a car for nearly five hours and her announcing that she's got to pee every thirty minutes." She reciprocated my grinding with some of her own, leaning down to nuzzle my neck while running her hands over my bare chest and stopping to tweak my nipples.

"Well maybe we can just sit in the back and make out," I suggested, running my hands up her thighs to her sweet spot.

"Hey you two!" Rose said, sticking her head back around the door. "None of that or we'll never get out of here!"

I groaned.

"See what I mean?" Bella whispered, and then yelled at Rose in a louder voice. "Get the fuck out of here Rose!"

**XXXX**

"Holy fucking cow!" I said when I saw Bella coming down the stairs.

"Watch your mouth Jasper Whitlock!" Rose yelled through the open kitchen door.

"What?" Bella asked, an innocent expression on her face.

"You're wearing that? In ten degree weather?"

"We're just gonna be in the car Jasper."

"Yeah, b-but…I…well…won't you be cold?" She was wearing a short denim mini skirt, my Dallas Cowboys football jersey and faded brown leather cowboy boots. Boots! The expanse of naked flesh between the hem of the skirt and the top of the boots called to me. I wanted to lick her like a fat kid with ice cream.

"Like I said, we'll be in the car." She dropped her overnight bag, a blanket and her toiletry case down and pulled on the jacket I held out for her.

"Yeah, but—"

She turned to me with a seductive smirk. "Aren't you the one that mentioned sitting in the back and making out? Or was that just a passing remark?"

I nuzzled her cheek with the tip of my nose. "No, I was serious."

"I've got the tiniest pair of panties on that you have ever seen," she whispered. "Can you guess what the blanket is for then?"

I swallowed the spit that pooled in my mouth before I choked on it. "Uh huh."

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down to her level, and then seductively whispered in my ear. "When we get to this Inn, I'm gonna do things to you that will make your eyes roll back in your head. Your toes are gonna curl before I'm finished with you. I'm gonna suck your—"

"C'mon guys, let's go!" Emmett roared, coming in through front door. "The car's warmed up and everything's packed."

After much debate, and Peter whining about wanting to drive his own car to the Inn, we finally settled on taking Emmett's extra large Cadillac Escalade for the road trip. We exiled Rose to the front seat so that she, along with her hot flash pregnancy hormones, could be closer to the main air vents and windows should she need an instant blast of cold air to cool off. To ease Bella's mind I asked Paul to accompany us, and he and another one of my guys, Jared, discreetly followed us in their own car.

Even though it seemed like we had to stop every hour for Rose to pee, Emmett made up the travel time with his lead racecar driver foot, and we pulled up to the Inn right before lunch. The large white house with a wrap-around porch and two visible chimney's entranced us, and we all sat in the SUV staring out the windows with our faces pressed against the glass in awe of its history and beauty.

Yeah I know hearing me describe it like that is weird, but after spending my days and nights between the dirty streets of New York and a hospital bed, the house was fucking awesome.

We were greeted by Elaine and Leo, a down-to-earth couple in their mid-sixties who were the inn keepers and owners, and immediately ushered to the casual dining room for lunch which had an 18th century twelve-foot stone cooking fireplace. Elaine had prepared fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans, corn bread and sweet ice tea with peach cobbler for dessert. The frou frou food that Bella and I had eaten on our date night was nice, but this was the type of food I grew up on and loved. I instantly fell in love with Elaine, and adopted her as my second mother.

After lunch, Leo showed us around the house and property, pointing out each bedroom and letting us choose which one we preferred. Even though the house had eight bedrooms, we were the only six guests, plus Paul and Jared of course, for the weekend. Rose later explained to me that Emmett had suggested to her that it would just be better to rent the entire Inn out for safety sake.

Bella and I chose the Champagne and Rose room with the gas fireplace, private treetop deck and Japanese steeping tub. We also had a king size four poster bed with a mattress that felt like heaven against my tired body.

Rose and Emmett chose the completely private third floor bedroom called the Moonlit Suite. It came with a satellite TV, refrigerator and wood burning fireplace. Emmett was thrilled with the prospect of spending all weekend watching football, that is, until Rose threatened him within an inch of his life if he turned it on. I overheard her promising him some private time later in their two-person Jacuzzi to make up for it though, and he grinned for the rest of the day. Bella and I had been wondering about the state of their relationship, but after hearing Rose's provocative promises, I wondered no more.

Peter and Char choose the first-floor Hearts and Flowers suite with a queen size four-poster bed, private patio and large screen TV. It was close to the kitchen, and the left over peach cobbler, which made Peter a very happy man.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do first?" Char asked.

We had gotten our luggage unpacked and settled in our rooms and were now meeting in the main living room to discuss our next move.

"Well, there's a couple of antique shops in town that I would like to go to," Rose said. "I wanna see if I can find a complete set of furniture for the nursery."

"Leo said that there are some casinos down the highway in the next town," Emmett said.

"Dude, we are so there," I said, high fiving him.

"Casinos? You guys want to spend a country getaway at the casino?" Bella asked.

I shrugged. "What can I say, I'm feeling lucky."

"I don't know why you're all of a sudden feelin' lucky, 'cause you ain't got lucky in two weeks bad boy!" Rose said laughing.

"Shut it Rose!"

"That's okay babe, because if you play your cards right today, then I'm sure you'll get lucky tonight," Bella said, kissing my cheek.

"Ugh! I do not want to hear that!" Emmett yelled, sticking his fingers in his ears.

"Okay, okay. So what do we do then?"

"Well, how about we three go shopping, and you three go to the casinos," Char suggested.

"Umm, one problem babe," Peter said. "You guys can't go anywhere without us."

"Well I'm not taking my baby into a casino," Rose argued, hands resting on her stomach. "It's bad enough that his or her father has to go." She pouted, turning her eyes upward and batting her lashes at Emmett.

"Aww babe, it's just for a little while," Emmett said, kissing her cheek with a loud wet smacking sound.

She squealed and pushed him away, laughing. "Well why don't we take Paul with us and you guys take Jared with you."

I looked across the room to my guys chilling out inconspicuously in the corner. I hated doing this to them, I knew how much they hated dragging behind women when they shopped, but our girls were the most important thing to us, and I wasn't going to leave them unprotected. "No, Paul and Jared both will go with you guys. We'll be fine on our own."

"Jasper-"

"It's okay babe," I said, knowing that Bella was going to be worried about me. "We'll be fine. I promise." I pulled my coat open to show her my double gun holster and fully loaded magazine clips. Peter nodded when she looked at him, reassuring her that he was indeed armed to the teeth as well.

"Great, so are we all ready?" Peter asked.

"Let me go change into something more weather appropriate," Bella said.

"Oh no Jasper," Rose said, blocking my way as I rose to follow Bella. "If you go up there while she's changing we'll never get anywhere today!"

"We'll just be a second!" I called out, as I deftly made my way around Rose. I was telling the truth. My sole purpose for following Bella was to make sure that she had the twenty-two and extra bullets tucked into her purse. The fact that I did happen to manage a quick feel on her boobies before Rose showed up and started banging on the door was inconsequential.

"Okay guys remember that we're having our belated New Year's Eve celebration dinner tonight, so be back in time to change!" Rose called out after us as we parted ways in the driveway.

Bella and I had spent New Year's Eve curled up in a hospital bed watching the lighted crystal ball in Times Square on TV. The next day I had been released from the hospital. Thinking back on the last few weeks, I noted that our entire holiday season had been filled with turmoil and unrest. If there were two people that deserved a little bit of normalcy in their lives, it was us.

But now, as I watched Bella getting into the Escalade without me, instead of that anticipatory feeling that I should have been experiencing knowing that I was about to hang out with my boys, I was a little more than nervous about leaving her safety in the hands of someone else.

I knew it was crazy for me to be worried about her; we were only going to be apart for a few hours at the most. But I couldn't help the prickly sensation that ran down my back as I saw Paul back out of the driveway. My chest felt heavy, and it was hard for me to breath.

"Jasper, Jasper you okay?" Peter asked, clamping a hand on my shoulder.

"Huh, what? Oh, yeah."

I broke away from Peter and hailed Paul before they could take off. He rolled down the driver's side window as I approached.

"What's up man?"

"If something happens…if something seems strange, if anything looks not quite right, bring them back here immediately and call me."

"Okay man, it's cool," he said, nonchalantly.

Outside of myself or Peter, I knew that Paul was the best man for the job of watching over our women. But the insane, over protective part of me was not satisfied with his answer. "I mean it Paul," I said a little more forceful than necessary.

He took off his sunglasses and looked at me. "Jasper, you know I'd give my life for either one of them."

"We'll be fine babe," Bella said, leaning out her window. "I love you."

I kissed her quickly. "I'll call you in one hour exactly; make sure that you answer your phone." She nodded. "And I love you more."

Rose made a gagging sound. "Let's go already!"

I stepped away from the car and watched as they left.

"Paul and Jared will make sure they're okay," Peter said, reassuring me.

"I know, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that something's not quite right. It's…I dunno, like someone's watching us or something."

"I think you're being just a little bit paranoid," Emmett said.

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

At least I hoped he was.

**BPOV**

"Move your ass Bella!" Rose turned around to yell back at me. "We've got three more stores to get to on my list."

"Who died and made you the fucking shopping Nazi, Rose?"

"I have to pee! And watch your filthy potty mouth around my kid!"

"You always have to pee!" I shouted back. "I'm gonna buy you a cork to plug it up!"

We had been to, no less than, seven antique stores looking for the perfect set of furniture for the nursery. Rose had in mind exactly what she wanted, and she would settle for nothing less. Char and I were both tired of being dragged around town looking for an image in Rose's head, and the frustration was starting to show. She made us want to strangle her, and if she hadn't been carrying the next McCarty, I probably would have done it already.

Because they didn't know the sex of the baby yet, Rose decided to paint a mural of zoo animals in an African safari on the walls of the nursery and wanted everything to match. So on top of furniture shopping, we had bought several thousand dollars worth of unisex baby bed linens, baby toys, clothes, equipment and the list went on and on.

We were in route to the next antique shop when a display in the window of a lingerie boutique caught my attention. It was called the Knicker Box, and they specialized in hand made under garments. It had been a while since Jasper and I had had the time, energy or circumstance to be together, and I was feeling the building tension because of that.

After being released from the hospital, I was overly worried of hurting Jasper even more, and that, coupled with my own mini meltdown depression phase was enough to kill any type of romantic notions. I was hoping that this weekend would give us time to reconnect on that level. The frilly lingerie I was looking at was a way to initiate some sexual healing, because truthfully, I wanted to be fucked, and hard.

"Will you two shut the hell up?" Char said through clenched teeth. "You guys have been at each other's throats since we left the Inn, and I'm sick to death of all your bickering!"

Two hours ago, after the first snappy remark, Paul and Jared excused themselves from our bitch fest and began standing guard outside of each store we went into. I was glad that they did, because I had been getting the funny feeling that someone was watching us. I told the guys about it, but I hadn't mentioned it to the girls or to Jasper when he called, because frankly, I didn't want to spook them or make them think I was being overly paranoid. But something, or more like someone, was out there. I knew it, I could feel it, and I was sure about it.

"Shut up, Ms. Congeniality!" Rose snapped. "You're always trying to make peace, and it's fucking annoying to listen to your good mood all the time."

"If being nice and pleasant is a crime, then so what, I'm guilty. But I'd rather be guilty of making peace than destroying it. 'Cause you're a fat bitch Rose!"

In all the years I had known Char, I had never seen or heard her speak ill mannerly to anyone. Rose and I both gasped at her outburst, and then Rose and Char simultaneously burst into tears.

"Oh God, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Char cried, wringing her hands. "I didn't mean it. You're in really good shape to be nearly four months pregnant."

Through her tears Rose started laughing. "Oh hunny, I'm sorry too!" She grabbed Char in a bear hug. "It's so funny seeing you get all mad like that."

I joined the circle of their hugging and crying and after a few minutes we were okay again.

"Let's just take a break and get some coffee or something," I suggested. "I think we need to just chill out for a second."

Char wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "I saw a sign for a little pastry shop about a block back down the street."

We finished making our purchases in the lingerie shop and doubled back—stopping inside of a small perfume store for Rose to pee because she simply could not wait any longer—to the pastry shop.

The streets were packed with tourist type people, going in and out of the shops and eateries. With so many people around I was trying my best to get a grip on my anxiety. Paul must have sensed my nervousness, because he stepped a little closer to me, and guided me down the street with his hand on the small of my back.

I felt a bit better with his close proximity, but it was nothing compared to the calming feeling that Jasper seemed to exude out of his pores when he was near me. I fought the urge to call him, just hearing his voice was usually enough to allay my fears, but I knew that he needed uninterrupted time with his boys just as I needed it with my girls.

"Ohmigod, cheesecake!" Char said, peering into the dessert display case.

"Oh God, they've got the turtle kind too," Rose said. "Uhhh, and carrot cake cheesecake? I think I'm gonna have both."

"Both of them Rose?"

"Hey, I'm pregnant and eating for two."

"For two what, elephants?" Char joked. "What are you gonna have Bella?"

"Huh?" I had been listening to the noise of them prattle on and on about the dessert, but not really paying attention as we stood in line waiting to place our order. My focus was more on who was in the shop and those walking past the window.

"Earth to Bella," Rose said, waving her hand in front of my face. "Dessert, which one do you want?"

"Oh, just the plain cheesecake I guess."

"What's wrong hun?" Char asked, hooking her arm through mine.

"She's missing her Jaspy Waspy," Rose teased.

I waved it away. "It's nothing." In my mind I was assigning the face of my attacker, Stefan Vladimir, and James' face to every male that I saw. I had to get it together before I freaked myself out any further. I shook myself, as if the motion would clear my mind.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just tired I guess."

"Well let's sit for a minute while we eat."

We sat and chatted about which stores to hit up next before we had to head back to the Inn. Rose described the restaurant that she had reserved for us for dinner, and accidentally let it slip that she, along with Jasper, had been planning this little getaway since the morning he woke up in the hospital. Apparently he knew that I would not just readily agree to a road trip and had planned the early morning wake up act with Rose to get me to agree.

I was shocked but it warmed my heart to know that the people I love, loved me back with just as much fervor.

"Are you serious? He really was planning this from the hospital?"

Rose nodded, mouth full of two types of cheesecake. "He just wanted us all to feel normal."

"That is so sweet!" Char said.

"Yeah, he's a pretty good guy" Rose said. "But you better not tell him I said that!"

"He wouldn't believe me if I did. But —"My fork clattered to the table and I swear my heart stopped beating.

_He_ was standing right there, and he was looking straight at _me_.

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you think? Click on that button down there and let me know!**

**The Riverwind Inn is a real bed and breakfast in Deep River, Connnecticut. I took the descriptions of the Inn and rooms straight off the website and reviews of the Inn. Elaine and Leo, according to a review I read about the Inn, are real people. I've never been to the Inn, but I would like to kidnap Jasper, take him there and let him do naughty things to me!**

**I try to research my topics before I write a scene around it, but I do not claim to be a lawyer, scientist or doctor, so if you see something in my story that is not completely factual, please just chalk it up to the fact that I wrote it like that to fit the story. Most of the bits about the Restraining order are correct. I am, however, not sure if a Police Chief would have the authority to issue one in the stead of a judge, but it sounded nice when I wrote it! :)**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	29. Chapter 29

*****Hear ye! Hear ye! Come one, come all! I have a special announcment to make*****

**I have started a new story. It is a Vamp/Human fic and the first chapter is up now. So run, don't walk, to my profile and check it out! It is entitled: tHirTeEn**

**I am extremely nervous about writing a vamp/human fic, so I am going to need everyone's support in telling me what they like, don't like, or what they want more of, but be nice! With that being said, everyone that reviews the first chapter of the new fic will get a small teaser for the next chapter.**

**I'm soooo very sorry that it's been almost two weeks since the last update, but RL has been kicking my butt! In order to make up for it, I have included a small lemon in this chapter. I hope that you like it.**

**Thanks, and a million Jasper kisses to Cullen818 and JamesRamsey for sticking with me on this one and the new fic. Without the two of them, this would be a pile of misplaced commas and fragmented sentences!**

**SM owns it, but she doesn't do lemons quite like I do!**

* * *

**BPOV**

I jumped up from the table, knocking the chair over backwards. He saw me watching him, and he must have been temporarily stunned, because he just stood there.

"Bella, Bella what's wrong hun?" Rose asked.

"It's him!" I said, and I took off before either of them could stop me.

Paul and Jared, who were sitting at a table in front of us, saw me running toward the door of the pastry shop and jumped in my way, stopping me.

"Whoa Bella, what the hell?"

"It's him, it's Vladimir!" I said, pointing toward the window. As soon as I said it, Stefan Vladimir bolted from the window.

Paul turned, saw the fleeing scumbag and ran out the door after him, no questions asked.

"Are you sure Bella?" Jared asked.

"Yes, yes! That's him!"

He thought for a second. "Stay in here and call Jasper. I'm gonna go after him with Paul."

I could already hear Rose on the phone with one of our guys. "No, I'm going with you!"

"Are you crazy?" Char asked, grabbing my arm. "Go Jared, we'll keep her here."

No sooner than Jared had gotten out of the door of the pastry shop, Char, Rose and I heard the squealing of brakes and the sound of metal crashing together. We each shared a look, one singular thought went through our minds and we ran for the door.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians, tourists and shop owners, all congregated in a semi- circle around something or someone. A fire hydrant was spewing water into the street on the opposite side from where we were. We pushed our way through the crowd, and just before getting to the edge of the semi- circle of people, Jared grabbed my arm.

"I told you guys to stay inside," he said angrily.

"We just wanted to make sure that you and Paul were okay," Rose said.

"What happened?" I asked. "Where's Paul? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. But Vladimir is not," he said, turning us around and gently pushing us back through the crowd.

"What happened?"

"The stupid bastard ran right into the street and was struck by a dump truck trying to make it through the yellow light."

"What?" I asked, stopping to stare at him.

He tugged on my arm to get me moving again. "Yeah, the truck tried to swerve and miss him, but ended up smacking right into him, hitting a fire hydrant and then crashing into a parked car."

"So Vladimir is pinned between a car and dump truck?" Char asked, face scrunched in disgust.

Jared nodded hesitating in answering. "I think it's more like _parts_ of him are pinned."

"Ewww," Rose and I said in unison.

"He's dead? My attacker is really dead?"

"I don't think they can put that Humpty Dumpty back together again, so yes, he's dead," Jared confirmed.

Human life, no matter how heinous or evil, was still precious. Part of me wanted to rejoice that I was at least free from one deviant, and the other part of me was, not sad, but mournful because it _was_ a human life after all.

"So what next?" I asked.

"We're taking you guys back to the Inn," Paul answered, meeting us on the sidewalk. "I called Jasper back and they'll be meeting us there."

We packed the rest of our packages into the SUV and headed back to the Inn. Jasper, Peter and Emmett were waiting, pacing, in the driveway for us when we pulled up.

"Oh God," Jasper murmured repeatedly in my ear. He hadn't even given the SUV time to come to a complete stop before he was yanking open the door and pulling me into his arms. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Jasper," I said, teeth chattering. "Just a little cold."

Elaine and Leo had hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies waiting for us when we finally got inside. We thanked them, and they disappeared to the recesses of the house. There was a blaze going at full blast in the giant sized fireplace and we huddled around the hearth trying to get warm.

"I can't believe he's just, dead," I said.

Jasper stiffened next to me, and just wrapped his arms tighter around me, not saying a word. He hadn't allowed me an arm's length out of his sight since we had gotten back to the Inn. I could tell that Jasper was having a bit of difficulty in dealing with Vladimir's death—_he_ wanted to be the one to eliminate my attacker, and now that had been stolen from him by a dump truck. His male ego was bruised.

"So what next?" Rose asked.

"Now we just need to find James," Emmett said.

"Yeah, but how?" Rose asked.

"That's the million dollar question," Peter said. "It's been what, almost two weeks since either of us has seen James? There's no telling where he is."

"Well, maybe that's a good thing," Char said. "Maybe he's come to his senses and has gone to get some mental help or something."

"Doubtful," Jasper said. "He's probably lying in wait somewhere, biding his time until the right moment, especially since his flunky is dead now."

"So you think that James hired Vladimir?" I asked.

Jasper stood up and paced in front of the fireplace. "I don't know, but it doesn't matter anyway because James is still out there. We'll start a more intensive search once we get back home."

"We aren't leaving now are we?" Char asked.

The guys looked around at each other, but it was Emmett that spoke. "No, we'll stay. There's no need to run back home simply because Vladimir is dead. That's at least one idiot out of the way."

We sat around talking for a little while after that and managed to weasel our way out of the dinner that Rose had planned. None of us felt like getting all dressed up and going out again. Rose seemed to not mind, and Elaine and Leo were more than happy to provide us with a meal. But instead of a meal, it was more like a feast and we didn't leave the table until after we had had seconds of everything.

"God, this bed feels so good," Jasper said, sinking down further into the mattress. "We need a mattress like this." He wiggled around for good measure, carving out a body shaped print into the pillows. He flipped on the TV and surfed through the channels

I snuggled up beside him and laid my head on his chest. "Char and Peter mentioned going hiking tomorrow."

"Uh huh," he said. "Oh good, the Steelers are playing."

"I was thinking that maybe we could go to that Mashantucket Pequot Museum after breakfast."

"Yeah, sure." He jumped all of a sudden. "That was so _not_ off sides!"

"Or maybe we could go do a tour of Chamrad Vineyards and buy some wine after we come back from hiking?"

"Yeah babe, anything you want. Oh my God, are you freaking kidding me? That's holding! He nearly ripped that guy's helmet off!"

"Jasper, are you even listening to me?"

"Sure, sure."

"What did I say?"

"You said that you wanted to buy a mashed potato bucket after breakfast and that there was a line to go hiking at the vineyard," he said, never taking his eyes off of the TV. "Yes! He made it to first down! See, I heard everything you said."

"Yeah, right." I kissed his cheek before rolling off the bed. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Sure, okay."

I dug around in the depths of my shopping bags, selected an "outfit" for bed and went to the bathroom, leaving Jasper to watch his football game. Making sure to take my time, instead of the shower, I opted for a bath. I ran hot water in the large Japanese seeping tub, making sure to use some of the Gardenia scent bath crystals that I had picked up at the Knicker Box.

I placed my iPod on the docking station and turned it to a mixed playlist. Aretha Franklin crooned about being a "Natural Woman", and then Roberta Flack sung "Killing Me Softly". I sang along with Joss Stone's "Some Kind of Wonderful", and with the way my voice sounded, I decided that American Idol was not in my near or distant future.

As I blow dried and scrunched my hair I could hear Jasper yelling at the referee, as if the man on TV could actually hear him. Then, I lathered up in a softer smelling Gardenia lotion—it layered the scent without overpowering it.

Next, I slipped on the "outfit" that I had picked up at the Knicker Box. It was a tulle mesh ballerina skirt in pale pink with matching ruffle thong panties and a corset with pushup demi cups, all in the same color. To complete the outfit, I pulled on the cowboy boots that I had been wearing earlier. I knew that the boots didn't match the ballerina motif, but for what I had planned, it really didn't even matter. Judging by Jasper's earlier reaction to the boots, and how he had acted in the backseat of the SUV on the way to the Inn, I knew that there would be no way he would be able to stay away from me while I was wearing them.

Jasper was lying in the same position I had left him in, except he had a beer in his left hand and his right hand down the front of his pants. I wanted to laugh at how "manly" he looked. Al Bundy and his infamous " Married with Children" couch scenes went through my mind.

"Jasper?"

He answered without looking up from the TV. "Yeah babe?"

"Do you think that this is too much pink?" I asked, my forearm resting on the door jam above my head and the other on my hip.

He nearly choked on his beer.

Exactly the reaction I was looking for. I smiled to myself.

"W-what…w-where…umm…are you…No?"

I moved toward the foot of the bed and stood in front of the TV. "Are you sure?" I pulled up the hem of the skirt. "Maybe I should go with white for the panties, what do you think?"

He wiped the drool off of his bottom lip and took a deep breath.

"No, the p-pink o-ones are g-good."

I turned, making sure to flare the back of the skirt out, giving him a peep show, and pulled on a short silk robe. "I'm gonna go down for some ice cream, want any?"

He jumped off the bed, catching his foot in a fold of the bed comforter and fell at my feet. Jasper popped up again, slightly limping on his already injured leg.

"Baby, are you okay?" I asked, worried that he had hurt himself.

"You're going down stairs? In _that_?"

"Why not? I'm sure everyone else is either asleep, or _busy_. You just stay here and finish watching your game; I know how important it is to you."

"But um, well…I'm…it's…" He snatched the remote off the bed and flipped the TV off. "Bella, _you_ are important to me." His hands rested on my hips, and he pushed me back against the door with a _thud_. "And you're not going anywhere," he whispered, running his hands underneath the skirt.

_SCORE! _

I did a mental fist pump.

"Jasper, I don't mind that you want to watch-"

"And these," he said, pressing his lips into the hollow of my throat and hooking his thumbs in the waistband of my panties, "have got to go."

_Okay, soooo not a problem! Should I take them off, or do you want to do that? _I thought_._

Kneeling, he shimmed the small scrap of material down my legs, stopping to kiss my knees and run his hands up and down my thighs. "But these, have to stay on," he said, indicating my boots. "Open up for me baby. I just need a quick taste."

My legs parted like the Red Sea. I gasped as the pads of his thumbs caressed the lips of my vagina, and my head hit the door when I felt his mouth on me.

"Jasper, please," I panted.

"Mmmm," he said, around a mouth full of my clit, licking and sucking me. "God, you taste like candy."

I wondered if I could bottle this sensation and mass produce it? I was sure that women all over the world would be selling their firstborns for a chance to feel like this, even for a minute!

He felt my knees buckling—there was no way I could keep standing with what he was doing to me-and he stood abruptly, catching me and pressing my back against the door. "I want you so fucking bad."

_Oh God, take me, take me now!_

I ran my hands up his chest and laced my fingers around his neck. "Not half as bad as I want you," I said, and kissed him.

"I need you to touch me baby," he murmured.

With my hands on the zipper of his pants, I carefully lowered the metal tab and slipped my hands inside his jeans and boxers. "Well hello there Mr. JW."

It had been a while, too long actually, and he whimpered.

"He wants to be inside of something more than your hand." He ran a finger over the edge of the bodice of my corset, dipped a finger inside and pulled out my breast. "He wants to be inside of your warm," he touched his tongue to my nipple, "hot," he tugged on it with his teeth, "wet pussy."

I arched my back against the door, crying out as he laved, sucked and bit my breasts and nipples. "God Jasper, can I just fuck you already?"

He released me. "Yes, please."

I stripped him as he walked backwards, pulling his sweater above his head and tossing it to the floor, and just before I pushed him down to the large plush chair, pulled his jeans and boxers down. I knelt in front of him and pulled the pants off of his feet, pushing them aside, forgotten.

"I think I said something about making your toes curl?" I ran my hands up and down his naked thighs, making his cock dance before my eyes, begging for attention.

I think I was the one drooling now. I swallowed thickly in anticipation.

"Yeah, I remember you saying that," he croaked out, voice tight lust.

"Oh look, he's leaking." I touched my finger to the head of his cock and spread the pre-cum around before sticking my finger in my mouth. "Tasty."

His fingers quivered, hovering at the bodice of my corset. "Take this off," he commanded.

It was something about the commanding tone of his voice that made me weak in the knees, and my seduction quickly went from me wanting to be in charge, to me wanting to be commanded. I wanted; I needed him to be in charge, dominating me.

I readily complied, releasing the eyelet hooks of the restraining material and letting my breasts go free.

"Tell me what you want me to do," I begged, looking up at him and batting my lashes.

He leaned forward and tweaked both nipples, then ran a thumb across my lips. "I want you to open your beautiful mouth, and put your lips on my dick. You're going to let me fuck your mouth while I watch in that mirror."

I turned and looked over my shoulder. There was a full, floor length mirror directly in front of the chair he was sitting in.

I smiled, and then licked him from the base of his balls to the head of his cock, twirling my tongue around the sensitive head. He grabbed the arm rest of the chair, nails digging into the fabric as I plunged him into my mouth, the head of his cock hitting the back of my throat. I let him sit inside my mouth, while I played with his balls, kneading them softly in my fingers.

"Fuck, fuck!" he moaned.

Applying a tiny bit of pressure with my teeth, I sucked upward on his thick shaft, wetly licking the head and humming around him.

"Bella, please. Please!" he begged.

I went down on him again, taking all of him into my mouth, and this time he grabbed my hair, thrusting up and down.

"Feels…so good. You're…so…fucking beautiful…with my dick in your…mouth."

He was snarling and growling like an animal, and it thrilled me to no end to know that I could do this to him, and in turn, he could evoke an equal reaction out of me.

I could feel my arousal gathering against the folds of my pussy, and I clenched my thighs together, rubbing and trying to bring myself pleasure. Jasper was panting and calling on God and speaking in his own garbled sex language; a sure sign that he was getting closer to his release.

Suddenly, he released my hair, and pulled me up. "Inside…lemme cum inside you," he panted.

Taking me by the hips with one hand, and the other on his erection, he guided me over him as I sank down onto his very large, thick and wet cock, backward.

"Holy fucking son of a monkey butt loving…yes!" he shouted, as he fully sheathed himself inside of me. "Ride me backwards baby."

Reaching around under my arms, he hooked his hands onto my shoulders and he thrust upward as I slammed myself down onto his cock. His pelvis slapped against my ass cheeks and I arched my back, driving his steel rod of a cock further up into me. He screeched, a sound that I had never heard him make before, and his fingers tightened around my shoulders, yanking me up and down over him.

"OH GOD! FUCK ME! Yes! Yes! YES!" I wailed.

This was amazing, and quite possibly the best sex we had ever had. I never knew that his cock would reach so far into my body. I swear I could feel him slam into the back of my uterus.

"Harder! Fuck me harder!" I yelled.

By the sounds he was making and the intensity that he was thrusting up into me, I surmised that Jasper really liked this position too. He released my shoulders, and I felt his hands on my hips, ripping the fabric of the skirt.

"I need to….see…my dick…inside of you."

"Right there…God…oh God…right there. Yes, yes God!" I screamed.

We watched ourselves in the mirror, Jasper's sweaty front to my back, my breasts moving in sync to the bouncing up and down I was doing in his lap. He saw them swaying, and latched on to my breasts with his hands, biting down on my shoulder as I rode him like a bucking bull.

"FUCK ME!"

"Cum…cum for me," he wrapped one hand in my hair and ran a finger along my clit.

_How can he have such perfect rhythm while simultaneously getting his brains fucked out?_ I thought. He fingered me, flicking my clit and yanking on my hair as he pounded into me from underneath my ass.

I exploded around him, seeing stars. And yet, he continued his glorious assault, his fingers digging into my hips as he pounded into me.

I felt a second, harder orgasm building, and I was sure that it would rip my body a part. I only hoped there would be enough of me left for him to do it to me all over again. I leaned back into him, trying to grip his sweat covered thighs to keep my balance. "JASPER!"

He grunted, moaned and shouted my name before exploding inside of me.

My legs were aching and my knees felt like Jell-o. I rested my back against his chest, breathing hard.

"Hey B," he said panting. "I know that I'm amazing and all, but you really need to stop calling me God."

I rolled and fell off of his lap to the floor, giggling.

"Babe, you okay?" he asked.

"If I die now, I'll die happy," I said, a little more than out of breath.

He laughed at me, and carefully scooped me off of the floor. On his own unstable legs, he carried me to the bed and deposited me in the mound of pillows, pulling off my boots. He ran to the bathroom and brought back a warm washcloth, and carefully washed my sensitive parts before crawling in bed behind me. He spooned me and ran his thumb over my nipple. I arched my back, pushing my ass into his crotch, purring at his touch.

"That was…there are no words." He pushed my damp, sweat soaked hair off of my shoulder and kissed where he had bitten me.

"You know what they say; abstinence makes the dick grow harder."

"And the pussy wetter," he said, rubbing his already growing erection against my back. "I've never asked you, but how did you learn to do that with your mouth?"

Could he really be ready for another go-around?

I looked back over my shoulder at him. "You really want to know?"

"Yeah, tell me."

I hesitated, embarrassed. "In high school the older girls in the gym locker room would talk about doing it to their boyfriends, and they would also pass around Cosmo magazine with the sex tip list in it. So Rose would steal the magazines out of one of the girl's lockers, and in one of them there was an entire section on how to give good fellatio; one of the tips was to practice with popsicles."

"So you two bought a bunch of popsicles and practiced on them?" he asked, laughing.

I nodded. "What else would fifteen year old girls do on a weekend sleep over?"

"I don't know, pillow fights, lingerie fashion shows and make over's?"

"Pillow fights, at an all girl sleep over, is just a guy fantasy. We never, ever, did anything like that. And where would we get lingerie at fifteen? You've been watching too much porn," I laughed.

"For my entire teenage life that's what us guys would talk about when we would hear that a group of girls were having a sleep over, and now you just go and kill my fantasy like that. Thanks a lot babe," he pouted, the corners of his mouth turning up in a small smile.

"I'm sorry baby, would it make you feel better to know that we still did the make over's?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"Only if you guys were naked while doing it," he said, kissing my neck.

"Jasper!"

"I'm joking, I'm joking!"

I reached behind me and ran my hand up and down his thigh. I could feel JW twitching against my back and I wiggled closer into him.

He rolled over me and nestled himself between my thighs, kissing my neck and running his hands up and down my sides. "Bella." He laced his fingers through mine and slowly, tortuously, thrust inside of me. "I can't help it, I'm one horny bastard, and the pillow fight mental image did not help calm me down." We laughed and he slipped out of me. He kissed me softly, swirling his tongue around mine as he slid back into place. "I fucked you, now let me make love to you. Please?"

I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking him in place. "All night?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"All night," he confirmed. He paused, and reached across the bed, pulling out the drawer of the nightstand, and took out my inhaler. "And you're probably going to need this afterwards."

**XXXXXX**

"You dirty, dirty whore," Rose said, lightly kicking me under the table.

"What are you talking about Rose?"

"We heard you last night," she grinned, shoveling a fork full of potato salad into her mouth, "_and_ this morning."

"Matter of fact, the whole house heard you," Char said. "I'm surprised you can still walk straight."

"Isn't it too early for you two to already have your minds in the gutter?" I asked, trying to hide my blush.

"After the second "fuck me" that you screamed last night, I had to bolt the door and let Emmett watch the football game in order to keep him from going after Jasper," Rose said.

"We were not that loud," I protested.

"Hunny, the street whores in Brooklyn heard you!" Char said.

Jasper strode into the dining room, jeans hanging low on his hips with a blue stripped button down shirt tucked in at the waist, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The cowboy boots he was wearing made me wish I'd skipped lunch altogether and ate him instead. He leaned down and kissed me, slipping his tongue inside my mouth.

I felt dizzy with the sexual energy emitting off of him, and I swear my pussy called out his name.

"Good afternoon sexy," he whispered against my lips.

"Good afternoon monster cock," I whispered back, grinning before pulling him down for more.

Did the fact that I wanted to throw him down on top of the dining room table and lick, suck and bite every inch of his beautiful body before fucking him right in the middle of the blueberry biscuits make me a dirty whore?

Yes it did, but so what? This was my man, and I could fuck him how I wanted.

"What are you grinning about?" Jasper asked.

"Thinking about you, and this bottle of honey," I said in a low whisper.

Emmett cleared his throat upon entering the dining room, and we reluctantly broke apart.

"So what's on the agenda for the rest of the day?" Peter asked.

Jasper finished fixing his lunch plate from the sideboard buffet and instead of finding his own chair, slipped into the chair that I was sitting in, setting me on his lap. I wiggled around a bit until I felt JW's head nudge one of my ass cheeks.

"Cut that out, or I'm gonna spank you later," Jasper whispered in my ear, biting my earlobe.

"Promise?" I asked, and wiggled again.

"You two are disgusting," Emmett said, watching us feed each other pieces of chicken.

"Why aren't you that way with me?" Rose pouted, punching his arm.

"Babe, are you kidding me? You damn near broke my finger last night when I tried to get some of your ice cream."

"Oh yeah, well that's because Moose Tracks is Peanut's favorite."

"Peanut?" Char asked.

Emmett grinned and laid a massive hand over his unborn child. "He's a lot larger than the size of a peanut, but we think it's a cute nickname until we verify that it's a boy."

"Cute?" I asked. I had never heard my brother refer to anything as "cute" before.

"It could be a 'she', honey," Rose reminded him.

"Okay, enough of this lovey dovey crap," Peter said. "What are we doing today? 'Cause if no one comes up with something good, I got a lot of ESPN to catch up on."

"No, no no. No one is watching TV today, especially since we have all of this beautiful nature to look at and to walk around in and get lost in," Rose said. "We could do that nature trail tour that Elaine told us about yesterday. It's about a two hour hike up to the top of the waterfall."

"Two hours, uphill in ten degree weather to the top of a waterfall? And you're four months pregnant?" I asked.

"It won't be that bad," Rose said.

"I think we should pick something else to do sweetie," Emmett said. "Something a little more indoorsy and not as strenuous."

"Well there's the Vineyard tour," I suggested.

"It's winter and there's snow on the ground. What would we see?" Char asked.

"The inside of the winery," I argued. "They can show us how they make the wine."

"With what, there are no grapes out this time of year," Emmett said.

"Well excuse me then."

He reached over and ruffled my hair. I always hated when he did that, so I swatted his hands away and punched him. "Don't touch my hair."

"Owww Bella, that hurt." He rubbed the spot where my fist connected with his arm.

"Settle down you two," Char chastised.

"Skiing then?" Peter asked, ignoring us. "I'm sure they have a sled or something you can get in Rose."

Elaine came in to clear off the sideboard buffet, refilling our plates before taking the empty serving dishes away.

"No thanks, I don't fancy doing a Chevy Chase impression down the side of a mountain."

"No, I mean like a horse and carriage thing," Peter said.

"Oh, I think I'll pass on that too. I'm kinda sensitive to smells, and sitting behind a smelly horse will probably make me sick."

"Hey guys," Elaine said, coming back into the dining room. "I hate to burst your bubble, but the weather station just issued a winter weather advisory for our area. We're expecting a foot of snow today, so you may want to stay put inside."

"Maybe we should head home before it hits then," Emmett said.

Elaine pulled back the curtains. "It's already started dear, and it's probably best just to stay inside until it clears up. But don't worry, Leo just got back from the grocery store and there are plenty of books, games and movies in the library."

"Cool, we get to camp out, inside!" Char said.

"Call the weather station, Little Miss Sunshine has made her appearance," Rose deadpanned.

"Shut up Rose," Char said. "I'm just trying to make the most out of our situation."

"I hate to ask, but do you guys mind giving Leo a hand in bringing in more firewood?" Elaine asked.

"Of course we'll help," Emmett said, shoveling the last biscuit into his mouth. He stood, ruffled my hair again and disappeared through the kitchen door behind Elaine.

Jasper dropped a kiss on my forehead before taking his own plate into the kitchen.

"You three figure out what we're doing today," Peter said as he left the dining room.

"So, movies and poker?" Rose asked.

"No, I suck at poker," Char said.

"Even more reason why we should play," Rose laughed.

"How about movies and Jeopardy on Wii," I said.

"Who brought the Wii?" Rose asked.

"Emmett did," Char said. "You mean you didn't see it in the truck?"

"No, I told him not to be dragging that thing all around the state. It's enough that he and the other two already spend every weekend playing it at home!" Rose said, upset.

"C'mon Rose, lighten up a bit. Deep down you know it's not that big a deal," I said.

"We are on a family outing, we need to do family things," she contested.

"Hey Bells!" Emmett said from the kitchen. "C'mere a sec."

"What do you want Em?" I hollered back.

"Just get in here!" he shouted back.

I rolled my eyes and got up. "Let's just have an Uno tournament or something," I said, walking backwards through the swinging kitchen door.

As soon as I had entered the kitchen I was hit in the face by a wet, cold ball of snow. Emmett, Peter and Jasper were killing themselves laughing at me as I screamed. Char and Rose came barging through the kitchen door, only to be assaulted in a similar fashion.

"I'm gonna kill you!" I screamed and took off after my brother and soon to be ex-boyfriend. Unfortunately, Emmett was bound to me by blood, and I couldn't replace him; Jasper, not so much. Hard-headed, overly macho men were a dime a dozen and could be picked up at any corner sports bar.

I ran out into the snow in nothing more than my sneakers, jeans and a thin plaid shirt. It was snowing hard, and it was _cold_.

Jasper scooped up a mound of snow and shaped it into a tight ball as he ran after me. There was no way that I would ever be able to outrun him, so I faked to the left and then dodged to the right just as he threw it. The ball missed me by mere centimeters. I laughed out at him, poking fun of his miss.

"Nan-nanna-boo-boo, you missed me!" I stuck out my tongue and wagged it around.

"You just wait little girl, I've got better uses for that tongue of yours!" he shouted at me.

"Don't say things like that about my sister!" Emmett yelled and chunked his own snowball at Jasper. That one hit him in the face, and we all fell out laughing.

Peter, who was hiding behind a tree, threw his ball and hit Emmett in the back of the head. "Don't worry big brother, I got him for ya!"

I scooped up some snow, shaped it into a ball, and just as Jasper bent low to gather another mound of his own, threw it. I hit him dead center in the middle of his face.

I whooped, hollered and danced around as he stood there wiping snow out of his face.

"Don't you dare hit my man!" Rose yelled, and threw her ball at Peter. Because she couldn't run around like the rest of us, she stood in one spot on the porch, securely anchored between the support columns. Her ball hit Peter's leg and she laughed manically.

What she didn't see was Char sneaking up behind her with her own ball. "Hey Rose."

Rose turned and ate a face full of snow.

"Little Miss Congeniality ain't so nice anymore, beyotch!" she bellowed, and they both laughed.

We ran around for a little while, throwing snow at each other until it just got too cold for us to be out there any longer. Elaine and Leo had hot chocolate and tea waiting for us when we came back inside.

There was something about being cooped up in a house when it was cold and snowing outside that draws people together—or rather, draws couples together. I guessed that was why so many babies are born in the summer.

When we finally decided on a movie, each couple started out curled together under flannel blankets in separate sections of the room; Jasper and I in the large over size double recliner, Emmett and Rose on the sofa and Peter and Char on a mound of pillows and blankets in one corner.

It soon became apparent that it was not the movie we were watching, or the snow falling outside of the picture window, but each other. Each flannel covered hump was moving to some unknown rhythm, accompanied by sighs and moans of pleasure.

Rose and Emmett were the first to get up and leave, followed by Peter and Char. We never did get around to playing that Uno tournament.

Jasper turned off the movie and we remained in the large recliner, watching the snow fall and listening to the crackle of the roaring fire.

"Jasper, can I ask you something?"

He rolled, pulling me on top of him. "You can ask me anything babe."

After taking a deep breath, I framed his face with my hands, and took a moment to stare into his amber colored eyes before speaking. "I know about the phone calls, why didn't you tell me?"

Alice had been calling him almost non-stop since we left Sound Beach. I had heard his phone vibrating while he was in the shower and when I checked it to make sure that he wasn't missing an important call, I saw fifty two missed calls from her, and almost as many text messages. All of them were from just since we had left Sound Beach.

"Don't be mad, okay? But I didn't want to you to worry."

"I'm not mad Jasper, but I can't help but to be worried. This woman is crazy, and she's liable to do anything to get what she wants."

"Yeah well, I'm willing to do anything it takes to make sure that she doesn't get it." He rolled his hips, grinding up into me. "Babe, I've got everything under control. You are safe with me, don't you believe me?"

He had been working on getting my shirt, and ultimately my pants, unbuttoned ever since the movie had started, and with the last button open, he ran his hands inside my shirt. I felt his fingertips pop open the front closure of my bra, and he grinned, caressing the underside of my breasts.

I knew that he was trying to distract me, and it was working. "You know I believe in you Jasper."

"Then just let me handle it, okay?"

His lips lightly danced across my collarbones and down to my nipples. Instinctually, I arched my back, grinding my hips back down into him. He chuckled and latched his teeth onto one of my nipples, lightly biting me, then sensually swirling his tongue around it.

"Okay," I gasped.

"Let me take you to up to bed," he whispered, his fingers were now at the open waistband of my jeans.

"I'm not sleepy," I panted.

"I'm not talking about going to sleep."

"Then tell me what you want," I baited, already knowing what he wanted, but needing him to say it.

He slipped one hand down the front of my jeans and stroked me through my lace panties. "I want to put my hard, eight inch dick inside of your tight, wet little pussy, and I want to hear that swooshing, sucking sound as I pound into you over and over." He teased me through the now wet material. I bucked against him, pushing my hips into his fingers. "I want to hook your legs over my arms, so that when I slam my dick inside of you, you will scream my name and make those fuck hot sounds you make just before I make you cum."

He hooked his finger inside the crotch lining of my panties and pushed them aside, teasing me with his fingers on my naked flesh.

"Is that all you want?" I moaned, grinding into him.

He grinned, and like the smug bastard he was, took his fingers away, leaving me unfulfilled and wantonly panting like a bitch in heat. He licked his fingers. "Mmm, that's finger licking good." He smacked his lips. "There's nothing like the taste of your pussy on my tongue. And did I mention that after I let you suck my dick, I may just bend you over the edge of the bed and fuck you from behind?"

With that image in my mind, I couldn't form a coherent sentence even if I tried. There were no words. I had no snappy comeback or reply.

I swallowed before I choked on my own spit.

"Do you want me to pull your hair while I do that to you Isabella?"

_He knew how much I loved it when he pulled my hair, and when he called me Isabella in that sexy musical tone of his voice!_

"Y-yes," I stuttered. "P-please."

He moved to the edge of the chair, and making sure to hook my legs around his waist, stood and carried me up the stairs.

I lost count with over how many times and different ways he made love to, and just plain out fucked me. I didn't know that a human body could physically withstand so many orgasms. When he finally tired himself out, we both fell into a deep sleep, sleeping past dinner even.

I woke much later to a growling stomach and the sound of loud, muffled voices coming from downstairs. I took a few moments in the bathroom to take care of some business. I showered and while brushing my teeth in the mirror, took stock of my sex bruises. I couldn't help but smile looking at them and remembering what caused the host of black, purplish marks on my hips, thighs, and breasts.

If anyone saw them, they would automatically assume that I had been brutally beaten. But Jasper was, despite his animalistic libido, extremely gentle and lovingly kind to me always. He would never intentionally hurt me, and although I looked a hot mess, beyond being just a tiny bit sore, I really wasn't hurt.

I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a matching hoodie to go downstairs. Jasper, Emmett, and Peter were sitting in front of the fireplace, heads together and huddled over a map with a look of concern and worry etched on their faces.

"What's wrong?" I asked, scared.

After sharing a look with the other two, Jasper got up and came to me. "You should go back to bed baby," he said.

"Tell me what's wrong, Jasper," I said, folding my arms across my chest. I wasn't about to go anywhere before he told me what was going on.

He sighed and kissed my forehead. "Two of my men back home spotted James's car headed this way."

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**A/N: Okay, so that was a little more than a small lemon! LOL What did you think?**

**Don't forget to check out my new fic and leave me some loving encouragement!**


	30. Chapter 30

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 30**

*****Okay guys, I know that I suck as a writer because I haven't updated in so long, but I have a really good reason. Real Life has been stressing me out for the last couple of weeks. I moved to another state-13 hours away from my home- and I was staying with friends until I could find an apartment. For the last almost three weeks I've been commuting an hour each way to work, working 12-14 hour days and trying to find my way around in a new city. Not to mention that I had a serious case of writer's block and no internet access except for at work, and I can't do this at work! So please forgive me( I know that you will because my readers are awesome), ****please read and review anyway.*****

**I know that this is short, but no, it is not the end. We've still got a ways to go for that.**

**Thanks to my supa dupa betas, Cullen818 and JamesRamsey for their wicked red pen skills!**

**SM wishes she owned my version! :) (Was that cocky? Oh well, so what!)**

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**James POV**

If they thought that the road blocks barricading the snow covered streets was going to keep me from her, then they were sadly mistaken.

Bella belonged with me, by my side where I could keep her safe. If I left her with that idiot Whitlock any longer, she would be dead within a week. He wasn't fit to look after a monkey, and with his explosive temper I had already personally witnessed him use against her, I knew that it would only add to the danger she was in.

My heart broke for her that day in the office when he had coldly pushed her away from him. He was mad that she hadn't obeyed him, and punished her by withdrawing his affection from her. What was she, an animal or something; a puppy begging for its master's love?

And then there were the bruises that I saw on her arms, and the bite marks on her neck that she tried to hide with her hair. I could only guess that he was beating her and sexually abusing her. I didn't understand why she would stay with him with the way he was treated her. Bella was a smart woman; hell, she was a brilliant woman who deserved more, better.

The incident that took the cake was the day he came at her in the garage lab, and in his demon fueled rage, yelled at her. I didn't get a chance to see what happened to her next, because the fucking bastard turned off the live video feed, cutting off all witness to his abuse.

Watching him yell at her like that set me on my path to free her from him. I was more determined than ever to go after him and take her away from all of the pain I knew that he was causing her.

When I heard that he was in the hospital after the car bomb, I was hopeful that he wouldn't make it through the night. But then I heard that his injuries were not as extensive as I had hoped, and the jerk pulled through. I knew then that I would have to get serious about my plans to rescue her.

That was why, despite the foot of new snow and the frigid temperatures, I trudged on toward the Inn where they were staying. I wandered around the property, searching for a way inside. I heard her scream, and it took all of my patience to keep from breaking down the front door and going to her.

I climbed up the trellis to the second floor balcony where I could hear him violating her. They sounded like animals, and it disgusted me to know how much he had debased her.

It seemed like I waited for hours for them to finish, and several times throughout the night I almost crashed through the French doors to stop them. Then finally, when things settled down, I saw Whitlock leave her sleeping to go downstairs with his brother. I cut the glass on one of the door window panes, unlocked it and slipped inside.

She was so beautiful, lying there sleeping so peacefully. I knelt down beside the bed and gently touched her face, running my hands down her cheeks, neck, over her chest and stopping at her breasts. I knew that it was wrong for me to touch her like this, but until I could convince her that I was the one she was meant for, then I would take this small slice of heaven and hold it close to my heart.

Her skin was soft as silk, and as my thumb passed over her nipple, it pebbled under my ministrations. I stopped and paid particular interest to this area of her body, circling her nipples with my thumb. I had dreamt about touching her here, about taking my tongue and licking them until they were rock hard, and sucking them into my mouth.

Her back arched off the mattress and a small sigh of pleasure escaped from between her parted lips. I couldn't resist any longer, and touched my tongue to her nipple. The taste of her skin was more than I could have ever imagined, and I had to have more of her.

My hands moved lower, over her newly bruised skin, and I used my mouth as a means of erasing the pain that he must have caused her. I would make it right for her, I would take away her fears and I would never let him near her again.

"Jasper," she whispered, and reached for me.

I stopped my movements right at the apex of her thighs. I could smell her arousal, and I could sense that it was only a matter of seconds before she would awake and find me here in place of Whitlock. Bella had been under his spell for so long that she would automatically scream and fight me, not realizing that I was here to save her. As much as I hated taking my hands from her body, I knew that she could not find me like this.

I scrambled away from her as fast as I could and rolled under the bed.

"Jasper?" she asked, fully awake now.

The bed creaked as she got up and padded softly to the bathroom. She showered, and from the open bathroom door I could see her checking out her body in the mirror. There were bruises on her hips, her beautifully shaped ass, her arms, chest and breasts.

I was going to murder Whitlock, and I was going to love every minute of it.

**JPOV**

"Okay, so James is coming after me…here," Bella said, pacing in front of the fire place. She stopped and whirled around to face us. "Well, what's the plan then?"

"Bella-" Emmett said.

"Don't try to keep me in the dark about this! When do we leave, where are we going?" She asked hands on her hips. When neither of us spoke fast enough to satisfy her, she launched into her own plans. "I figured that you guys should probably head in the opposite direction of Jasper and I, 'cause if we all go together, then Rose and Char could get hurt."

I didn't know what I had expected Bella's reaction to be, and I was guessing Emmett didn't either, but I definitely didn't expect her to go into G.I Jane mode.

She continued pacing. "I've got my twenty-two, Jasper's got his arsenal upstairs in his duffel bag, and I know you've got something similar in one of your bags Peter. I think I should have another gun though. What do you think Jasper?"

She didn't give me time to answer because she was too busy strategizing. "I think we should head northwest toward Hartford, and Em, you guys should probably head back toward Sound Beach," she said, pointing at the map.

"Whoa, whoa wait just a minute," I said. "Bella, there's at least a foot of new snow out there on the ground. We can't just go running off in the middle of the night."

"James is after me Jasper, we have to get out of here and we have to leave now!"

"Bella, Bella stop." I wrapped my arms around her waist to keep her from running. "He's not going to hurt you."

"You don't know that," she said, pulling away from me. "You can't possible know what he's going to do. We have to leave."

"Bella, it's better if we just stay here until morning," Emmett said.

"But what about Peanut? What if James comes here and Rosie gets hurt?"

"No one's gonna get hurt, and we all gonna be alright," Peter said. "Trust us."

"What about Char? And Elaine and Leo, they could get hurt too!"

"And we all could run off the icy roads and crash into a ditch," I pointed out. "Look, just calm down and listen for a second." I turned the map around and pulled her down to my lap. "These roads are closed, and that includes the off ramps from the turnpike as well. The guys that I've got watching him say that he's pulled off the road and checked into a motel here in Centerbrook." I pointed it out to her on the map.

"But that's really close to where we are now."

"Babe, let me finish. We're all gonna leave first thing in the morning. We'll take the car and go one way, and Peter, Em and the girls will go another way, and we'll meet back in Sound Beach."

"No one can do anything until the morning anyway Bells," Emmett said. "It's too cold outside and the roads are too dangerous."

I could feel the nervous tremors running through her, so I hugged her tighter. "Just relax babe, it's all gonna work out, okay?"

She dabbed at the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. "Okay, I trust you; all of you."

"Well, I guess we should all go back to bed, we'll need to wake up in a few hours and get back on the road," Emmett said. He kissed his sister on the forehead and then took the stairs two at a time to his own third floor room.

"Yeah, I'll see ya in the morning bro." Peter bumped my fist before disappearing down the hall.

I kissed Bella's neck, and nuzzled her throat with the tip of my nose. The thought of losing her to something James may have planned scared the shit out of me, and I had a strong desire to just bury myself inside of her and never leave. Considering what we had done the last few hours, I didn't know if she was physically up to the challenge, but I wasn't beyond trying to convince her. "Why don't you go on back to bed babe, and I'll be up in a minute."

She turned and framed my face between her small hands before kissing me. "I love you, and will you bring the rest of the left-over chicken up, I'm starving?" She whispered.

I laughed. We had missed dinner and she would need something to help keep her strength up for what I had planned for her. "I love you too."

"Oh Jasper," she said, stopping half way up the stairs. "The next time you sleep fondle me, you'd better finish what you start."

I didn't know what she was talking about, but considering my hungry libido lately, it was altogether possible that I did feel her up while we were both sleeping. I met her halfway up the stairs and greedily kissed her again, shoving my tongue in her mouth and grabbing her ass.

"I've got to check the doors and windows down here, but as soon as I get in that room, you'd better be naked and ready."

She pushed me back against the wall. "Forget the doors and windows, I can be naked in two seconds, and I'm already ready."

She was right, I could smell her arousal. But as ready as I was, I needed to make sure that we were safe first. "Safety first baby, I'll be there in a second."

I was half way through the living room when I spotted the footprints in the snow outside of the window. My heart stopped when I heard Bella scream, and it took less than a second for me to react.

"Jasper!" Peter yelled, coming out of his bedroom.

"Upstairs!" I yelled back, drawing my gun as I took the stairs two at a time.

Bella was screaming and I could hear the sound of glass breaking and shouting. I cursed the locked bedroom door and the fact that I hadn't bothered putting my boots on earlier. I rammed my shoulder into the wood of the door and it didn't even budge. Damn English oak!

"What the hell?" Emmett asked, pulling on his shirt.

"Bella!" I yelled, beating against the door. "He's in there Em!"

"Shoot the lock!"

"I might hit her. Paul, you and Jared go outside and up the trellis! Em, go round the girls and Elaine and Leo up and get them down to the basement. Peter, help me," I said, and tucked the gun into my waistband. "Bella get away from the door!"

On the count of three Peter and I rammed into the door, sending it crashing open and against the wall. Bella was locked in James's arms and being dragged across the floor toward the open balcony doors. Her hoodie was ripped and her arm was bleeding from being dragged through the broken glass.

"Let her go!" I demanded, pointing the gun at him.

"Jasper!" Bella said, reaching out for me. "I love you!"

He yanked her backwards and pulled out the gun at the waistband of his pants, waving it wildly at us . "I-I won't let you hurt her anymore!"

I moved into the room, keeping my gun trained on James, yet keeping a wide breadth of space between where he stood with Bella.

"The only one hurting her is you James," Peter said.

He shook his head. "You beat her, I've seen the bruises. She has them all over her now. I won't let you, or that _woman_ hurt her any longer!"

"I haven't beat Bella, James. Just let her go and we'll talk about it!"

"There's nothing to talk about! I can't stand watching you touch her, watching her bend to your commands. You can't keep her safe like I can," he said, backing toward the balcony doors. "You or that _woman_ will eventually get her killed, and I can't have that."

I didn't know whether to shoot him, or to try to tackle him. Either way, Bella was going to be in harm's way.

I was tired of people playing games with Bella's life, and I was tired of looking over our shoulder everywhere we went. Bella just wanted a normal life, and I did too. Was that too much to ask for?

Paul and Jared appeared behind James and Bella, giving me the signal that they were ready for anything that may happen. So I took a bold step forward. "James, I'm either gonna shoot you, or beat the hell out of you. But know this; you will not be leaving this house with Bella. It's your choice."

He pushed Bella to the side, and at the same moment that Paul and Jared tackled him, he fired his gun at me. Among other things, James may have been a smart research assistant, but he was definitely not a marksman or a fighter.

The bullet missed me by a mile and shattered the full length mirror.

"Jasper!" Bella said, and launched herself at me. I held her close, reassuring her that everything was okay while she cried. "He touched me."

"It's okay, he won't touch you again."

"No, I-I t-thought it w-was y-you, b-but he w-was the one t-that was touching me w-while I was asleep."

"What?" I asked angrily.

"She needed to know what a real man's touch felt like," James said smugly, as Paul and Jared struggled to hold him down.

I pulled Bella outside and into the hallway and closed the door. "Baby look at me," I said, bending down to look her in the eye. I pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. "Did he rape you while you were sleep?" I felt sick asking her that question. How could I have left her alone even for a second?

She shook her head, wringing her hands and crying. "No, he didn't. I think I woke up in time."

"Okay, okay, just calm down." I wrapped my arms around her and held her for a few minutes more. Peter came out of the bedroom, and without a word to her, I passed Bella off into his arms.

"Jasper?" Peter asked.

"Take her downstairs, and keep everyone out of here," I ordered.

I opened and closed the bedroom door, locking it behind me. And, true to my word, I attacked James with a vengeance.

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**A/N: Hmmm...so what woman was James talking about? Is it Alice, Maria, or someone else?**

**Hey guys, please review and let me know what you think. Seriously, when I know that you guys are reading, it really helps motivate me to keep writing.**

**Also, for those of you who didn't know, I have started another fic entitled: tHiRtEen. It is five chapters in and it's a human/vamp fic. I have chapter 6 done and on it's way to my betas, so please stop by and leave me some lovin'! I promise that I will do my best to never go that long without an update again!**

**Thanks for sticking with me!**


	31. Chapter 31

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 31**

**This fic has been nominated for an Avant Garde award, category Best Non-Canon Pairing at: twilightfb-awards (dot) blogspot (dot) com , so run over there and vote!  
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******Okay guys, it has come to my attention that there are some underage readers out there-*face palm, NO WAY!* Please guys, if you're not 18, then don't stop here to read. I don't want to get into trouble!******

**Major thanks to my beta's, who always give me their honest opinion, and point out the good and bad of my writing. Thanks Cullen818 and JamesRamesy.**

****There is a little bit of violence toward the end. I will indicate with X-X-X.**

**SM owns it!****JPOV**

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It was everywhere, all over my hands and coating the floor underneath his limp body. It stained my pant legs, and I briefly wondered if I would ever be able to get the coppery smell out of my lungs.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard an explosion, and the sound of people screaming for help. I grabbed my gun and took off running through the smoke and debris filled house, blindly making my way to the exit.

I could hear Bella screaming, as I tore down the hallway to reach her, prepared to kill anyone who stood in my way. The door was barely hanging on its hinges, and I easily kicked through it. But she wasn't there.

I quickly scanned the room, checking the shadows and in the corners to make sure that I hadn't missed anything. There were a series of doors down a long dark hallway, and as I went along kicking in each door and searching each room, her screams got louder. I could feel myself panicking because everywhere I looked, I couldn't find her.

I screamed her name over and over, and the sound of her voice faded as she called out for me.

"Jasper! Jasper baby, wake up!"

I felt my body convulse, and I jerked awake. Bella was leaning over me, her long hair brushing against my cheeks. I grabbed her arms, relieved that she was okay, but my grip was a little too hard because she winced and tried pulling away from me.

I released the hold I had on her, apologizing, but pulled her under me, pushing up the sleep shirt she was wearing. For the last four months I had been having a variation of the same dream several times a week.

The first time I had had the dream, I had violently thrashed around the bed, wildly striking the air with my fists. Bella had gotten too close to me, trying to wake me up, and I had accidently struck her, bruising her side.

For a few days after that I refused to sleep in the same bed with her, worried that I would hurt her again. After two weeks apart, Bella pointed out that since neither of us were dealing well with the separate sleeping arrangements, that we might as well have insomnia together and at least lay in the same bed with one another.

She also convinced me to speak to her therapist. Each week we had our own individual session, and then two days later, a session together. Bella was working through her fears from both of her attacks, and I was working on my guilt.

I had a shit-ton of, well, shit that was plaguing me. Number one on my list was the fact that I had failed to protect Bella when she needed me the most. I had been careless, and James had not only molested her in her sleep, but had also nearly kidnapped her. On top of all of that, what I had done to James in that room had triggered all sorts of repressed memories that I had of torturing Riley, the War, and the things we all had done to simply survive in the dessert.

The dreams were lessening in their frequency, but the only thing that would fully pull me out of the night terrors that I experienced every time that I woke up was Bella. I needed her like I needed air to breath, and she was right there for me each time.

"Bella, I'm sorry," I whispered, running my lips over her arms where I had grabbed her.

"It's okay, I'm fine."

I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of her panties and pulled them down her legs, placing kisses along her inner thigh. Over the last four months I hadn't been the only one with the bad dreams; Bella had had her fair share of them too.

And while we were both religiously going to therapy, this was part of our healing process too, losing ourselves in our "sex therapy". There were times when we made love for hours after waking up from one of our dreams, and then there were times where we just relentlessly fucked each other, hard.

"Baby, I need…"

"Just get inside me Jasper, I'm ready," she panted, palming my cock through my boxer shorts.

Okay, so this was not going to be one of those multi-hour long sessions. Good thing, because I didn't think I could last that long. Bella sat up as I shimmed out of my shorts, and pulled her night shirt up and over her head. Instead of lying back down, she turned around, ass in the air.

"Hurry," she instructed.

"Bella—"

"Please Jasper, I can feel him," she cried. "Make it go away."

Apparently she had been dreaming too.

I settled myself between her spread legs, running the tip of my cock along her pussy lips, checking to make sure she was wet enough for me. She groaned, and pushed back against me. I slammed into her.

"Ugh, fuck!" It had been a couple of days, and she was tight, but just right. I swiveled my hips, working her from the inside.

Bella gripped the headboard to steady herself. "Pull my hair."

That was a new request, and it confused me a little. "What?

"PULL. MY. HAIR!"

I wrapped my hand in her hair, pulling her head back as I in pounded in and out of her. She met me thrust for thrust, begging me to pull her hair and fuck her harder. Bella was always like this whenever she dreamed of him, and it usually took several of our intense sexual therapy sessions for her to settle down again.

"Come on baby, cum for me," I whispered in her ear, begging her. She was fighting her orgasm as a way of punishing herself. When she was like this, she didn't feel like she deserved pleasure, and I had to resort to other means of making her let go.

Everyone deals with tragic events in a different way, and I found out, quite by accident, that talking dirty to her usually did the trick. Funny thing about it, it excited me too. "Listen to you pant like that. Do you love the way my hard cock feels inside of your tight little pussy?"

She didn't answer, just groaned.

"Answer me," I grunted as I thrust into her harder.

"Yes, God yes! You feel…so good."

"Listen to you pant like that. Whose ya daddy Bella?" I pulled her hair, sucking on the sweaty skin on the side of her neck.

"You. Only you!"

I released her hair and ran my hand down her body.

"Say my name Bella." I stopped at her breast and pinched her nipples. "Say it!"

"J-Jasper!"

Bella was holding onto her emotions with a tight rein, and I was going to have to try something different. I gripped the headboard for balance, and continued my descent with my other hand. "Do you want me to finger fuck you?" I touched her clit and she shivered. Her resistance was weakening. "You like that, do you? You like feeling my fingers fuck your clit while I slam my hard cock into your pussy?"

"Yes, please!"

"Come on then Isabella, cum for me. Think about how good this feels, and how much you belong to me; only _me_. You're MINE!" I circled my fingers around her small nub. "He doesn't exist anymore, and no one will ever hurt you again."

She threw her head back, eyes screwed shut, and moaned long and deep with her release. "Keep going," she groaned.

I complied, doubling the pace of my thrust, encouraging her second orgasm and finding my own release. Bella collapsed under my weight, breathing hard.

"Baby—"

"I'm okay Jasper."

I pulled out of her and rolled over onto my back. Bella curled against my side, laying her head on my chest. Her silence worried me, and I was scared that I had been too rough or crossed some sort of imaginary boundary.

"Bella, are you sure that you're okay? I mean-"

She cut my sentence off with a kiss, twirling her tongue around mine. "I thought it was hot, so shut up." She threw her leg over my hip. "I love it when you're rough and when you talk dirty to me, you know that."

"But…"

"I know it's weird, but it works for me."

I ran my hand up and down her outer thigh. "You don't think we're masking our emotions with sex, do you?"

Bella stretched against me, and my dick twitched. It never took _him_ long to recover.

"I asked Dr. Dwyer about that, and she said that as long as we actually talked to each other about what we were feeling, and worked through things verbally, then we could fuck as much as we wanted."

"Dr. Dwyer said that we could fuck as much as we wanted?"

Bella laughed, a sound that I loved to hear. "Well, she didn't exactly say 'fuck', but the sentiment was the same."

"You had your dream again?" I asked, as I wiped the remaining tears off of her cheeks.

She nodded. "And you had yours."

"Yeah," I said, pulling her closer.

"Tell me what happened," she begged, not talking about the dream because she knew what the dream was about.

The only other people that knew what had happened in that room with James, was Paul and Jared. Yes, I had been working through my issues in therapy, but I had to leave out parts of the reason why I was feeling so much guilt. How could a doctor, or anyone really, understand that I had beat and tortured a man for stalking and molesting my girlfriend?

Doctors were supposed to have some sort of doctor/patient confidentially clause, but I didn't always trust that. If I told Dr. Dwyer, I would run the risk of incriminating myself should the police get involved.

I wanted to tell Bella what happened, but if I was already having nightmares about it, would she? Didn't she have enough to deal with already? I didn't want her to have to carry my demons too.

"Bella baby, it's not something I'm proud of."

She ran her fingers through my hair. "I just want to help you like you help me."

"How do I help you?"

She grinned. "What we just did helps me."

"I'm serious."

"Me too." She ran her hands up and down my bare chest. "But you really listen to me when I talk, and you make me feel safe. So talk to me."

"I do talk to you babe."

"I know you do, but this is the one thing that you haven't told me, and it's also the one thing that causes you to have the same dream." She took me in her hand, slowly pumping up and down. "I'm not pressuring you to tell me, but just know that I'm here to listen when you're ready."

I closed my eyes, breathing hard with the sensations she was creating with her hand. "God, that feels good."

"Hey Jasper?"

"Yeah babe?"

"I'm gonna suck your dick, and I want you to fuck my mouth. Are you cool with that?"

_Oh, so very cool with that._

**BPOV**

"Damn it Emmett McCarty, move your ass!" A very pregnant Rose screamed at the top of her lungs. "I think this time is it!"

"I think you said that the last two times you guys ran off to the hospital in the middle of the night," Peter said, scratching his head. He plopped down at the kitchen table and snatched the sports section out of Jasper's hand.

"Hey, I was about to read that!" Jasper yelled at his brother.

"Doesn't anyone care that I'm about to go into labor?" Rose asked.

"If this is actually it, then yes, we care," I said, snuggling into Jasper's lap and drinking from my morning cup of coffee. "But given your track record, forgive us if we don't go scurrying around to get ready."

Rose gripped the edge of the granite countertop and doubled over in pain. "I hate all of you!"

"You said that last time too," Char reminded her.

"Alright Rose, let's go," Emmett said. He lacked the enthusiasm that a new father usually displayed. "We'll call you in an hour or so, when the doctor says that it's false labor, again."

"I think that this time is it Emmett," Rose said.

He took her hand, and supported her weight with an arm around her waist. He kissed her forehead. "We'll see baby, we'll see."

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Peter asked.

Jasper and I knowingly looked at each other. Today was the day that I was going to face one of my demons, the maintenance closet.

A month ago I had come to a point in my therapy where it was time to put into action the things that I had been working on. With Dr. Dwyer's help, I had spent apart of each session working my way into the parking garage. In my last session I could comfortably stand and walk around in the garage without fear, and now it was time to face the closet where I had been trapped for five days.

"Today is the day that I face the closet," I said bravely.

"That's so cool Bells," Char said. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"Yeah, make reservations for six at Emilo's tonight. I think we're gonna need to celebrate."

"Six?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, do you really think that Rose is gonna have the baby this time?"

"Good point," he said grinning

Jasper squeezed my hip. "Maybe we should finish getting ready to go baby."

I had asked Jasper to join on my session, and I think he was as excited and nervous as I was.

I hopped off of his lap and ran for the stairs. "Cool, but I'm driving!"

Another thing that had changed in the last four months since the James' incident; I had gotten my driving privileges back, and along with it, I treated myself to a new sports car and a new motorcycle. Jasper did not like being in the passenger's seat while I drove. It wasn't that I was a bad driver, because I wasn't, but his male ego felt like he should be the one driving his woman around town.

"You know, you're gonna have to get used to me driving again Jasper."

"What are you talking about, I'm happy that you're driving," he lied.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, and took a deep breath before pulling into the parking garage. Dr. Dwyer had said that I may always hesitate before going into a garage, but as long as I carried through, then that was where my real strength lie. "You are such a bad liar."

"I…I am not…whatever," he huffed.

I laughed at him. "I'll let you drive tonight when we go out to dinner."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh boy, thanks."

Dr. Dwyer met us at the closed door of the maintenance closet. She smiled softly at our approach.

"How are you this morning Bella? Jasper?" she asked.

"I'm okay," I said, lacing my fingers through Jasper's.

"Are you ready to do this?" she asked.

I nodded, squeezing his hand tighter and looking up at Jasper. "Yeah, but I want to do this alone."

Jasper looked down at me. "Bella, Dr. Dwyer and I are here to help you in case you need to talk it through."

"I know, but I feel like I should go in first, alone."

He didn't like that idea at all. "What if you need me?"

"Are you gonna leave?" I asked, scared that if he felt that I didn't need him, he would leave.

"No of course not, I just wanna be here for you."

"I do need you baby, trust me. But I'm ready to face this by myself first. And I'll call you when I need you to come in. Promise."

He sighed, knowing not to argue with me. I was just as stubborn as he was. "I love you," he said, and kissed my forehead.

"I love you too."

Dr. Dwyer produced the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door, pulling it open just a crack. "We'll be right over there, in case you need us Bella."

I touched the door knob and took a deep breath. The one thing that I had learned about facing my fears in the garage was that I had put a lot more effort in being afraid of fear, and had blamed the actual brick and mortar structure. The parking garage itself hadn't harmed me, just as the closet wasn't responsible for keeping me trapped for the five days I was in there.

Yes, I know that was probably an over simplification of things, but my mind worked out issues logically, and with a scientific approach. Why wouldn't it work the same with this situation?

_There is nothing to fear but fear itself_, the famous old quote kept replaying in my head.

I looked over at Jasper, and he smiled at me with encouragement, mouthing _love you_ to me. I pulled the door open and went inside.

Everything was still the same. The smell, the sound of the elevator engines starting up and the damp, cold feeling that settled into my bones. It was just a room, right? Nothing more than concrete and cinder block walls covered in cobwebs.

Wrong! I felt my breath catch, and my chest tightened, cutting off my oxygen supply. It felt like the walls were closing in on me, and I turned around and around, searching for a way out.

"Bella."

I turned and fell into his arms. "Jasper!" I wheezed.

"I'm here baby, I'm here." He produced my inhaler from his pocket. "It's okay, just calm down."

I took a few deep pulls of the medicine and let it settle in my chest before speaking again. "I thought that I could handle it. It thought that it would be easy if I logically segmented it in my brain," I cried.

"Fear is not something that can be compartmentalized or rationalized Bella," Dr. Dwyer said. "Everyone deals with fear in a different way, and there is no textbook answer on how to process the emotions that come from a fearful situation. The fact that you've gotten this far with your therapy speaks volumes to the progress that you are making. Why don't we go upstairs and talk about it."

We spent the next hour with Dr. Dwyer and afterwards, Jasper drove us to Central Park. The sun was shining brightly, and it was a warm April morning. He bought a half loaf of bread at a corner store and we stopped periodically to feed the ducks.

He had been unusually quiet, and it was starting to worry me. "What's going on Jasper?"

He led me over to one of the park benches and pulled me down beside him. "Bella, you know that I love you."

"Of course, I love you too. What's wrong?"

He released my hand, and ran his fingers through his hair, resting his elbows on his knees. "I don't want there to ever be secrets between us Bella."

His tone of voice scared me, and I felt my stomach drop. It was time for me to confess. "Okay, I know that we weren't supposed to do it, but we really wanted to go and you and Peter were in your meeting and I had just gotten my license back and…"

Jasper cocked a raise eyebrow at me. "B, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Char and I went to the shoe sale at Nordstrom's the other day when you and Peter were in that meeting, and we didn't take Paul or Jared with us. But we only went 'cause it was a really good sale, and James is no longer around, and we haven't even heard a peep out of Alice in months and-"

"Okay, okay. Slow down. First, that's not what I'm talking about when I say secrets between us. Second, no, you two shouldn't have taken off like that by yourself, but things have been mellow for a while, so I'm not upset."

I sighed with relief. "So what secrets are you talking about?"

"You're right. I keep having the same dream because I haven't talked about what happened that night."

"And you want to tell me now?"

He nodded. "Part of the reason why I didn't tell you, was because I didn't want you burdened with my sins. I didn't want to give you nightmares about it."

"What's different about it now?"

"You are. When you went into that closet by yourself, I realized how strong you are. You've grown so much over the last few months. And, you've helped me grow too." He laced his fingers through mine. "Please just promise me that you won't think any differently about me."

"Jasper, you know that my love for you is unconditional. You can tell me anything."

He took a deep breath. "Do you remember anything that James was ranting about that night?"

"No, I try not to think about him or what happened that night. I already have nightmares about it."

"Well, he kept mentioning that I couldn't protect you from 'that woman'."

"Alice? But how would he know Alice?"

Jasper stood up and paced for a moment. "No, not Alice."

"Then who?"

"I don't know," Jasper said, clearly upset. He stopped his pacing and knelt in front of me, taking my hands into his. "Baby, you gotta think. There's got to be someone else."

"Jasper, we've been through this so many times before. I don't _know_ anyone else!" I yelled, pulling away from him.

Jasper slid back into the empty space on the bench beside me, draping an arm around my shoulders. "Okay, okay. Calm down." He kissed my forehead. "Maybe I should start at the beginning, from when I went back into that room."

**X-X-X**

"_Paul had James on the floor, arms pinned behind him with a knee in the center of his back. James was struggling in the hold they had on him, cursing at Paul and making promises that he would kill us all once he got free. _

"_You can't protect her like I can! She'll die, and it will be your fault Whitlock!" James screamed._

_I knelt down, getting right in James' face. I could see him fighting his fear, and I loved it. "Tell me James, how do you want to die?"_

"_Fuck you!" James yelled. "You pussy ass mothafucka!"_

"_Set him up." I instructed Paul. "You stalked her for years. Why?" I asked, ignoring his insult. I needed answers from him before I dealt with him._

"_I never stalked her! I fell in love with Bella during that summer at camp," James said, and then spat out a mouth full of blood. He was breathing hard, and he was starting to tire from his earlier round with Paul and Jared. "She's so smart, and beautiful. I couldn't help but to be drawn to her._

"_The other kids made fun of her, and the so-called camp counselors were intimidated by her. At twelve years old she was smarter than all of them, and they didn't know what to do with her. But Bella was never mean to any of them. She ignored their jokes and withdrew from group activities to protect herself. I tried talking to her, but she was so use to suffering their abuse, that I guess she thought that I meant her harm, and ignored me as well."_

"_So you stalked her, and now you were going to kidnap her."_

"_I told you, I never stalked her! Stalking implies that you want to harm someone, and I would never harm her. I love her," he cried. _

"_Who is 'that woman' that you were talking about?" I asked. _

_He ignored the question. "You don't understand. I followed Bella's work for years, even when I moved to Georgia for school, I read all of her published articles, and I would fly up to M.I.T to hear her speeches. I love her. I just want to protect her."_

"_Did you have something to do with her being locked in that closet?"_

_He shook his head, tearing running down his face. "No, no. I love her," he kept repeating, over and over again._

"_Yeah yeah, so you say. If you were following her, then you must have seen her being attacked that night. Why didn't you stop it?"_

"_No, I was in China that week on business. I flew back as soon as I heard though."_

"_How convenient!"_

"_I'm serious! I was devastated when I heard about it. I did everything I could to find her!"_

"_But you know who was behind her attack!" I accused. "Who was it?"_

_He shook his head, tears and snot running down his face, and blood out of the corner of his mouth. "I…I…love her," he mumbled._

_I grabbed him by his hair, yanking his head back. "Tell me now, and I may let you live__. Who had her attacked, and is it 'that woman'?"_

"_You took her from me. I'll never tell!" he sobbed. "You took her…I love her…I…"_

_I motioned for Paul to release James, but he hesitated. "Hey Major, are you sure?"_

_Paul and Jared both had served under my command in the War, and they still both called me 'Major'. We had protected each other's back then, and they had unfailingly followed my command ever since. Besides Peter, I trusted them the most._

_I stood up and turned around. I pulled the forty-five out of the waistband of my jeans, laying it on the top of the dresser. I wanted to feel James's flesh cave in under the force of my hands when I attacked him._

"_Let him go, and wait outside the door," I warned them._

_Jared stepped forward. "But Major—"_

"_That's a direct order, solider!" _

_Paul and Jared exchanged looks and then complied._

_James laughed manically, and I launched myself at him like an animal._

_The sound of my fists connecting with his face seemed to echo off the walls, and James' cries of anguish were like music to my ears. _

"_Tell me who that woman is!" I demanded, with my hands clenched around his throat._

"_You think…I would…tell you…now?" James grunted, struggling to breath. "If I'm going to die, then so is Bella! Because I'd kill her myself before I let that woman, or you, have her!"_

_James bucked, pushing me off of him. I rolled into the broken mirror glass, cutting my back. He fell on top of me, his hands around my throat this time. I managed to get my feet under me for leverage, and rolled over on my side, throwing James off of me._

_We circled each other, sizing one another up like caged beasts. I could feel the blood running down my back from the cuts, but I ignored it._

"_You should just give up James. There is no way that you're leaving this room alive; not after what you did to her. Just tell me who 'that woman' is."_

"_Fuck you Whitlock! How are you going to feel when Bella dies? Because I will never tell you!"_

_I didn't see the gun until it was almost too late. James fired once at me, missing me again. I vaguely remember Jared and Paul pulling me off of James as I continued pummeling his limp body._

**_X-X-X_**

I took a deep breath, absorbing the things that Jasper had just told me. James knew who was after me, but still refused to tell anyone. All of the love he claimed he had for me was misplaced and misconstrued. He was a sick man, and I was glad that he was gone.

"I…I wanted to kill him because he hurt you, but…"

"…but you feel guilty because you took a human life," I finished for him.

Jasper nodded, and buried his face in his hands. "And it's not over," he mumbled. "We still don't know who she is, or why she wants you dead. And I don't know how to stop her."

I pulled his hands away from his face, and smoothed his hair out of his eyes. "But we'll find out. We're in this together baby. And what you did, you did out of self defense. I love you Jasper, and that's not ever gonna change."

Jasper reached out and ran his fingers along my cheeks, tracing my lips with his thumb. "You are so beautiful, and I love you so much. Please don't ever leave me."

"Jasper—"

His lips touched mine softly at first, and then he deepened the kiss, holding me close to him with a hand at the nape of my neck. I was lost in him, in how he made me feel and the way my body responded to him. I pulled him closer, slipping my hands inside of his shirt.

"Hey baby," Jasper said, nuzzling my cheek with his nose.

"Yeah?"

"You probably should stop trying to undress me since we're in public."

"Huh? Oh yeah," I said blushing and looking around. I re-buttoned the three buttons on his shirt that I had managed to undo.

A large, colorful ball rolled towards us, and two small laughing children ran up to grab it. The little girl fell, rolling in the grass. The little boy extended his hand to pull her up, and then dusted the back of her jeans off before they ran off with their ball again.

"Isabella McCarty?"

"Yes, Jasper Whitlock?" I asked, smiling.

"Will you marry me?"

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so what do ya think? Is 'that woman' Alice, or someone else? And, what's Rose having, a boy or girl. Got any name suggestions, 'cause I'm fresh outta ideas.**

**Reviews feed my muse! Let me hear from ya!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

**To Keep You Safe**

**Yes, I know that it's been forever since I updated this. Even though I knew how I wanted the chapter to go, I've had a wicked case of writers block for this one. Please forgive me. I hope you like it.**

**Thank you for sticking with me, and I'm working on the next chapter now. Leave me some lovin' at the end.**

**Cullen818 and JamesRamesy, you guys rock.**

**SM owns it.**

**

* * *

****JPOV**

"Yes, yes YES!" Bella screamed.

This wasn't just her third 'yes'. If I had been counting them correctly, this was the fourteenth time she had said the three letter word in the last two hours.

"Yes!"

Fifteenth.

I only needed to hear one 'yes' to the question I had asked her earlier, but the fact that she felt she needed to yell it out that many times warmed my heart. It also gave my dick that little bit of extra encouragement to keep up the rhythmic pounding he had been doing to Bella. And, it helped to keep my legs from giving out. So yeah, all of the 'yes's' were because of _him_, not because Bella needed to reassure me that she would marry me.

Even though I hardly spent any time at my loft apartment since I had moved in it, I was sure that my neighbors were not too happy with all of the noise we had been, and currently were, making. Screw them. The most beautiful woman in world had agreed to marry me, and that was a cause for a little celebration.

Since leaving the park, Bella and I had celebrated in the front entrance against the door, the living room on the sofa and floor, and we were currently celebrating on the kitchen counter.

"YES!"

Not only had the word 'yes' been screamed sixteen times now, but Bella had thrown in a few other colorful words and phrases. My favorite just happened to be 'fuck me harder you big dick motherfucker'. Definitely not for the innocent or faint of heart.

I had erroneously assumed that most women, after being proposed to, would want to be made love to, caressed softly and worshiped. But not Bella. Bella wanted her lovin' fast and hard. The closest thing we had come to soft love making since the proposal was when we fell on the floor in the living room and Bella rode me like a bucking bull.

"Imma cum…right there…oh God…yes!" Bella screamed, throwing her head back and cracking it on the cabinet behind her. She didn't seem to notice as she rode out her orgasm.

I thought about reaching up to rub her sore cranium, but the need to find my own release won out and I slammed into her two more times before I saw stars and called on the name of God to save me. Yeah, that was a little selfish, but so what.

We collapsed naked onto the cold polished concrete floor, laughing and kissing.

"How's your head?" I asked, kissing her neck.

Bella extended her arm and felt the back of her head. "It's still there."

I kissed her knuckles and ran my thumb over the ring-my ring-on her finger. "Time to clean up Mrs. Whitlock," I said, grinning.

"Ooooh, shower sex!" she said excitedly.

"Damn woman, let me rest for a minute!" I laughed and scooped her off the floor.

I had one of those Kohler Bancroft luxury shower systems that sprayed water at you from eight side jets as well as the overhead rain head. When operating at maximum speed, it could knock you off your feet if you weren't prepared for it. I cranked it up as far as it would go and pulled Bella into the shower behind me. She squealed at the force of the water hitting her and I positioned her to stand in front of me, wrapping my arms around her waist so that I could support her stance.

"Jasper, it's too much!" She laughed.

"It feels wonderful!" I shouted above the roar of the spray but turned it down anyway.

I pushed her down on the tile bench and began rubbing her legs, working her muscles to get the soreness out.

"Now _that_ feels great," Bella said, leaning back against the shower wall as I rubbed her calf muscle.

"So when do you want to make this official Mrs. Whitlock?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is Saturday darling."

"Okay, then Monday."

"There's a twenty-four hour waiting period in the state of New York."

"Good thing I live in Connecticut then," she said and leaned forward to kiss me.

"Seriously babe, I was thinking maybe the end of the summer, right before your birthday."

"But that's five more months," Bella said.

"Oh, well we could do it next summer. That would give you more time to get things planned."

"Next _year_? I was thinking about next _month_." Bella took the squishy sponge thing from my hands and after squirting soap on it, started rubbing me down.

"Next month? Babes, I've never planned a wedding before, but that's hardly seems like enough time to even tell everyone."

"Who do we need to tell besides Em and Rose and Peter and Char? And, I can call Esme right now to get the ball rolling on finding a dress for me," she argued.

"I don't want you to feel rushed. We have all the time in the world."

She stopped scrubbing and looked deep into my eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you taking your proposal back?"

"What? No! Why would you think that?"

"I just thought you'd be more excited to get married as soon as possible. But, if you don't want me like that, then…" She looked up at me with a playful expression on her face.

I tickled her sides and pulled her closer. "But don't you want a big wedding with white doves, a full orchestra, horse drawn carriages and a receiving line a mile long?"

"No. All I want is you, me and someone to make us legal," she said, and kissed me softly.

"One month?"

"One month," she confirmed.

"Alright, we'll make it happen."

She squealed and threw her arms around my neck, kissing me all over my face. "I love love love you!"

"C'mon, let's get outta here, we're starting to look pruney."

X-X-X-X

Instead of going back to Connecticut, Bella and I decided to stay in the city and celebrate our upcoming nuptials in private. We checked to make sure Rose had not gone into labor –another false alarm—and to tell the rest of the family about our engagement. Then I took her to dinner at a small café in Soho. Afterwards, we just walked for a while, enjoying the warm spring evening and stopping to listen to the various live performers in the park. Before it got too dark to safely be outside, I took her back to my loft and made love to her for hours.

Sometime before the sun came up I was jarred awake by the sound of my phone ringing. Bella rolled over but didn't wake up. When I looked at the caller ID, it flashed 'UNKNOWN' across the screen. I hit the ignore button and tucked the phone under my pillow, pulling Bella closer to me. With a sleepy sigh, she snuggled up against me, wrapping her arm around my waist.

The phone rang four more times before I got tired of listening to it and turned it off completely. If it were someone that I knew, then they wouldn't be calling me from an 'unknown' number.

I woke a few hours later, nearly jumping out of my skin with the feeling of someone's hand, other than my own, on my dick. Bella had her head lying on my chest and she was slowly stoking me with her fingers…teasing me gently.

"I love your cock," she said softly.

"Do you now?" I groaned.

"It's so big and thick, massive really. WMO."

She wrapped her hand around me and pumped slowly.

"WMO?" I asked, feeling a little smug.

"Hmm…Weapon of Massive Orgasms." She laughed.

I grunted as I felt her finger slowly circling the head of my cock.

"And you taste so good." She moved down to lick the pre cum off. "God, you're beautiful," she whispered right before taking me in her mouth. "I can't even…get you all…the way in…my mouth."

I gripped the sheets in my fists, twisting and practically ripping them apart as she wildly sucked me off, twirling her tongue around my cock. I was heaving and moaning when she used her teeth on the way up.

"Bella…oh fuck…Imma 'bout…holy…"

"That's right baby, cum down my throat. Lemme taste you," she panted, before attacking my cock again. "So good…"

I felt the head of my cock hit the back of her throat, and she didn't gag!

"So big…umm, delicious…"

"Do it…again…"

She did it again, and again.

But I wanted to be inside of her when I came, so I reached down, hooked my hands under her arms and pulled her up to me as I half sat, half reclined on the mound of pillows behind me. With her hand around my cock, she slowly lowered herself onto me as I thrust upward.

Her back arched and head fell back, moaning. I felt her long hair brush against my thighs. I ran my hands up and down her sides, cupping her breasts and noticing that with the way she was sitting on me, it looked like her boobs were bigger. _Thank you Lord_! I thought, right as I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth.

I knew she had to be sore, so I gave her a moment to adjust to me before moving; there was no way that I could break our connection now.

"Jasper, if you don't move, I'm gonna explode," she mumbled, trying to move her hips. "God that feels…so amazing…." She gripped the back of my head, holding me closer to her breasts.

Bella was not the most coordinated person on the planet, and she always needed a little help in finding her rhythm when she was on top. But once she found the pace she was looking for, I knew that she would fuck me senseless.

"I just had to look at you for a second. You're so beautiful when you ride me," I said, nipping at her other nipple as I thrust upward. I made a mental note to pay more attention to my favorite body part. Her nipples were so erect and perky and pink that I wanted to nosh on them all morning.

Bella leaned forward to grip the headboard, making her breasts sway and hang over me. I settled back into the pillows as she found her rhythm and let her lead the way.

X-X-X-X

"We have to get up," Bella said much later, yawning.

I groaned. "I don't think I can move."

She rolled over me toward the bedside table, making sure to rub against my semi deflated cock, to answer her ringing cell phone. I hissed at the contact and slapped her ass. She giggled and bounced around on my lap.

"Bella!" Char shouted through the phone.

Char was so loud that Bella had to hold the phone away from her ear.

Deciding not to put the phone back to her ear, Bella switched it to speaker. "What's wrong Char?" She immediately moved off of me.

Char screamed something unintelligible and I was off the bed in a flash and looking for my jeans and checking the magazine clip on my gun.

"Slow down Char, and tell me what's going on," Bella said, moving to find her clothes as well.

It was Peter's voice that I heard next. "Rose's water broke. We're taking her to the hospital now!"

"Where's Emmett?" Bella demanded.

"Get up off the floor!" Rose screamed.

"He fainted," Peter said, grunting.

I assumed that he was picking Emmett up off the floor because I heard my future brother-in-law mumbling about needing the keys to his Escalade, and then Rose screaming that she would have the baby on the dining room table before she allowed him to drive her anywhere.

Bella sat back on the bed a breathed a sigh of relief, clutching her bra to her chest. "We'll meet you at the hospital."

"Bella!" Rose yelled. "Go by and get me one of those chili cheese hotdogs from the Shake Shack before you leave the city!"

"Rose, you know that you can't eat that while you're in labor!"

"I know that dammit! I want it for after. Just hurry the hell up, will ya?" She let out an agonizing moan. "Oh God, I think this kid is trying to gnaw its way out!"

Bella rolled her eyes "We'll be there as soon as possible Rose."

"Are we really gonna have to stop for hot dogs?" I asked as soon as Bella hung up the phone.

She moved around the room looking for the rest of her clothes. "Do you want to be the one to tell Rose that we came all the way back home without them?"

I thought about it for a second. "Good point. You wanna shower first?"

"Yeah, I think we'd better. We both smell like sex and candy."

"Sex and candy?"

"Yeah, this is my candy," she said and stuck her hands down the front of my open jeans before pulling me down to kiss her.

I groaned. "Baby, if we start this again, that kid's gonna be graduating pre-school before we get there."

"I know, I know. You're just so yummy."

I grabbed her naked ass and squeezed one last time. "Shower. Clothes. Hotdogs and then the hospital. In that order."

"Okay, okay. Are you gonna be this stingy with my candy after we get married?"

"Stingy?" I called out from adjusting the water spray in the shower. "I think seven times in a twenty-four hour period is pretty generous."

She sighed and exhaled dramatically, joining me in the shower. "I guess I'll just have to get one of those vibrators then. You know, for when –"

I backed her up against the cold tile wall. "Nothing goes inside of my pussy except me," I growled, before lifting her off her feet and showing her that I meant what I said.

**BPOV**

"Rose is gonna kick your ass."

"Well Imma tell her it was all your fault," Jasper said, pulling into the parking lot of the hospital.

"I'm not the one who decided we had to do it on the side of the road of the Turnpike," I argued.

"Well what did you think road head leads too?"

I held up the greasy sack of smashed and leaking chili cheese hotdogs. It had a boot sized footprint on one side. "I told you to watch where you were putting your feet."

"It's kinda hard to maneuver around in such a tiny car. Besides, I thought you were gonna put it on the dashboard or something."

"That _is_ where I put it after the first time you smashed it. I couldn't help that my foot got stuck in my jeans."

Jasper laughed. "Yeah, for a second there I thought you were gonna kick through the windshield."

Jasper parked the car and after depositing the destroyed food in the nearest garbage can, we found our way to the maternity ward. Rose's moans and groans could be heard as soon as we stepped off the elevator.

Peter and Char were sitting outside of Rose's room when we approached. Char had her head buried in Peter's chest, and every time Rose yelled with an apparent contraction or pain, Char stiffened a little. Peter just rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

Through the partially opened door I could see Emmett fussing around Rose, fluffing her pillow and feeding her ice cubes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, immediately concerned.

"Uh, well, you know how Rose is not usually the nicest person on a good day?" Peter asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, since she's in labor, multiply her normal attitude by like ten thousand," Peter mumbled.

"I think her head spun around and I swear that green shit spewed out her mouth," Char said, looking up at me with red rimmed eyes.

Char was sensitive and somewhat timid by nature, whereas Rose was crass, opinionated and mostly just loud all of the time. They loved each other like sisters, but they also fought like sisters too. Well, it was more like Rose would state what she wanted and wouldn't take less, often times bullying whoever got in her way.

"What happened?" Jasper asked.

"They were arguing about baby names, and well you know how Em and Rose get when they argue," Peter said. We nodded and he continued with the story. "Char simply suggested that they wait a few hours to actually see if it was a boy or girl before deciding on what to name it. You know, to see if there were certain characteristics that stood out."

We nodded again.

"Okay, and?"

"I called it an 'it'," Char explained.

"Who?" Jasper asked.

"The baby," Char said, wiping her eyes. "I said, 'let's wait and see what _it_ is before you decide', and Rose hit the ceiling. She said that her baby was a human, not some unknown fucking alien life force, and that _he_ or _she_ deserved the respect to not be called an '_it_'."

I gave Char a quick hug while trying to hide my smiling laugh. "You know it's just the pain and stress of labor, right?"

Char nodded. "Yeah, I know. But she's still a bitch sometimes!" she said, emphasizing the word _bitch_ loud enough for Rose to hear.

"I heard that!" Rose yelled.

"Baby calm down," Emmet admonished.

"I think you'd better go find some chili cheese hotdogs," I whispered to Jasper before gently knocking on her partially open door. I stuck my head inside the room. "Hey honey, how ya feeling?"

"How do you think I'm feelin'?" Rose snapped. "I got a ten pound linebacker gnawin' my insides to get out and I'm hungry as hell. You got the hotdogs, right?" She looked back and forth between Jasper and me, her eyes shining. "Just let me smell 'em. Please."

"Uh…yeah, we 'em left at the nurse's station." Jasper lied, eyeing me. "You know, so that they wouldn't get smashed or somethin'. Well uh, how 'bout those baby names?" He asked, switching subjects.

I swatted his arm when I saw Rose's face turn bright red. Her head really did look like it was about to spin around.

"Jasper!"

"What?" he asked, rubbing his arm.

"Well _I_ like the name Brice for a girl, but Mr. Bonehead over there hates it."

"I didn't say that I _hated_ it, I just don't want my daughter to be teased. I can see some little punk boy callin' her Brice-Rice, or Brice-a-Roni the San Francisco treat, and then I'm gonna have to treat him to a foot up his ass when she comes home from school cryin'," Emmett said.

"Well okay then," Jasper said, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"But Angela said-"

"Angela? As in the Angela Weber that used to work for us?" I asked.

"No. Angela from my Lamaze class. She and her husband just moved here from somewhere out west, Iowa or Arkansas or something. Anyways, she has this book that gives the meaning of names, and she said that Brice is of Welsh decent and it means alert and ambitious. With genes like ours," Rose said, pointing between herself and Emmett, "she can't help but be both of those."

"So it's a girl then?" Peter asked, coming back in the room with Char.

"No, we still don't know what sex the baby is," Emmett said.

We could all tell that he was being careful to not call the baby 'it'.

Smart man.

"But I've got the good spunk, and I just know I made a boy," he said, rubbing Rose's stomach.

Dumb man. Very, very dumb.

She swatted his hand away and screamed at him to not touch her.

"So what are your other choices?" I asked, trying to distract Rose from fighting with my brother.

"Well, I like Tristan, Broderick, and Ynyr as boy names," Rose said.

"What?" Peter asked. "Ynyr?"

"I told you before, and it looks like Imma have to say it again. I will _not_ name my kid Ynyr! How the hell do you even spell that?"

"How the hell do you even _say_ that?" Jasper asked.

"Y-N-Y-R," Rose spelled slowly, giving Jasper the stink eye.

I noticed that she spelled it, but she didn't try to pronounce it again.

"See, _you_ can't even say it!" Emmett pointed out. "How the hell are we gonna name our kid somethin' that we can't even pronounce? Every time we need to call him, it'll be 'hey Y-N-Y-R, come here'! Or, 'how was school today, Y-N-Y-R'? And the kids at school will pick on him, and you'll go around beating up little second graders and whippin' up on their mama's. I don't need that kind of stress in my life."

"Poor little Y-N-Y-R," Peter said, shaking his head. "I'll have to start up a therapy fund for the kid."

"Well I think it's unique," Rose said. "Karen T saw it on some website and she said that it means honor."

"Karen T?" Char asked.

"She's another mom in my class. She lives on a ranch around here somewhere and does clinical research from her home, so she spends quite a bit of time in front of the computer and offered to look up names for us," Rose said. "We call her Karen T 'cause there are two other Karen's in the class."

"Okay, well what else ya got?" I asked.

Rose held up a finger, signaling for us to give her a moment to let the contraction pass. She gripped Emmett's hand, and even though he grimaced, he stood by her side like a good baby daddy and took it.

"I like Hale," Emmett said, cradling his hand.

"I'm not givin' my kid my last name as his first," Rose stated, running her hands over her bulging belly.

"Well it really wouldn't matter if you just would agree to marry me!" Emmett shouted back.

Emmett had been damn near on his knees for weeks now asking Rose to marry him. She would always smile, and politely say no. When he would ask her why, she would always just say that it wasn't the right time yet and that she would know it when she felt it.

Even though Rose refused to say 'yes' or wear the gorgeous ring that Em had bought her, they had gone down to City Hall and applied for a marriage license. Time was running out on the license though, but everything was set just in case Rose gave the go ahead.

"But just think, every time you said 'oh hell' the kid would come running," Peter laughed. "Or what about, 'how was your day? It was just hale'."

I caught myself staring at her stomach and a tiny part of me was jealous thinking I may never be in that position. Even if by some miracle I _could_ get pregnant, there was a higher risk of miscarriage for a woman with my condition. It would be touch-and-go to just make it past the first trimester. Jasper must have caught me staring, because he laced his fingers through mine and gave my hand a little squeeze. He pulled me to his side and kissed my temple.

"One day," he whispered.

I looked up at him and smile. "Love you," I said softly.

"Ohmigod!" Char yelled. "Speaking of last names, we almost forgot; you're about to change yours! Lemme see your ring!"

She grabbed my arm, nearly ripping my hand off when she yanked me forward.

"Holy shit!" Rose said. "Look at that rock. I bet you could see that from space!"

Jasper had done an exceptional job in picking out my ring. It was a three carat cushion cut Tiffany diamond surrounded by bead set diamonds in platinum. There was a vintage feel about it that made me think that if the ring could last forever, then so would our marriage.

Peter and Char both hugged us, and I leaned down to accept a hug from Rose.

"So when's the date?" Rose asked.

"One month from now," I said.

"One month? Did you knock my sister up?" Emmett asked with a scowl on his face.

"No, she's not preggers, my _baby daddy_," Rose said right before another contraction hit.

Emmett blushed at being scolded for doing to Rose what he was accusing Jasper of doing to me.

"I know that he didn't. At least, she wasn't when he asked me for my blessing nearly two months ago. Why so soon though?" Emmett asked, grinning. He hugged me, wrapping his bear like arms around me and lifting me off the floor, then shook Jasper's hand. "That's not nearly enough time to plan anything."

"We want it simple and just family," Jasper said.

"Yeah, there's no need to spend a gazillion dollars just tryin' to show off. What we got is the real deal, and _People_ magazine, or _US Weekly_ don't need pictures of us walking down the aisle only for people to place bets and surveys on when we're gonna get divorced."

"Yeah, once you said 'yes', that sealed it. There ain't no turning back now baby," Jasper said, giving me a swift kiss.

Rose's OB/GYN came in and ushered us out the door, saying that he needed to check her progress. When the doctor came out of the room and said that it was okay for us to go back in, we all piled back into the room, only to find Rose in tears and Emmett doing all that he could to calm her down.

"What is it, what's wrong?" I asked, immediately worried that something was wrong with my little niece or nephew.

"I wanna get married!" Rose wailed.

"What?" Char asked.

"I wanna get married," she repeated. "I realize now that it was stupid for me to keep putting you off. I don't want my kid to have a different last name than me."

"Well you can't even agree on a first name, what the hell difference does it make about the last name?" Jasper blurted out.

Rose wailed even louder, flailing her hands around and getting herself all worked up.

In a Rose like fashion, I back hand swatted Jasper across his chest.

"Oww babe, that hurt!" he said, rubbing his sore chest.

"As soon as the baby gets here, we'll start planning a wedding," Emmett said, trying to reassure her.

"No, I wanna get married now!"

"Now? Honey, you're about to get down with this baby, now is not the time to be getting married!" Char yelled.

"We have the license; I've been carrying it around in my purse since we got it. I just want to hear the words. Please Emmy, please."

Peter cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved, we have come here to join this man, this woman, and this baby—"

"Not from you!" Rose yelled at Peter.

Emmett sighed. "Rose-"

"The hospital has a Chaplin, right? Can't you go get him?" she asked, excitedly looking at us.

We all stood around looking at each other. I was wondering how the hell we had harbored our crazy friend for all these years and never, not once had either of us gotten her any help.

Jasper reached over to the bedside table and picked up the phone. "Well, why don't we see if he's available?"

X-X-X-X

"Don't forget the veil," Rose said to Char, and then hunkered down for another contraction.

The contractions were coming faster, and at her last check, she was dilated at 5 cm. The doctor said that she had a few hours to go still, so in the meantime, we were trying to put together an impromptu wedding. She sat in the middle of the hospital bed, her hands rubbing her enormous stomach while she practiced her breathing, a scowl on her face in between contractions and issued commands to her soldiers.

The hospital Chaplin was out for the morning, but was scheduled to return later in the day. In an effort to move things along before the baby came, Jasper called around to a few churches to see if there was a man of the cloth available to perform such an unorthodox ceremony. Every pastor we called worth his Bible refused to join anyone in Holy Matrimony without first performing a marriage counseling session with them.

This upset Rose so much that Emmett was frantic with trying to find any way in which to satisfy her. He had enlisted Carlisle and Esme's help, and for the last hour, they had been calling anyone and everyone they knew within a thirty mile radius that was legally qualified to perform a wedding ceremony.

So far, the only option was a little old retired judge that lived on the outside of town. He was a patient of Carlisle's and he was more than willing to help, but because of his recent bout with cataracts, he was not able to drive. Because of the hotdog fiasco, Jasper's guilt pushed him to volunteer to go get the man and bring him to the hospital.

Rose knew she couldn't change out of the standard issued hospital gown, but she insisted on wearing the veil that she had already bought. Char had agreed to run back to the house to get it and a few other things a bride would need; something borrowed, something new and something blue.

I had gone down to the gift shop and bought every over priced vase of flowers they had in the refrigerated cooler, and had even gotten the hospital cafeteria to give us two bottles of sparkling grape juice and plastic champagne flutes as well as a few pieces of a white sheet cake that they had made for lunch.

"Hey babe," Jasper said, taking some of the bounty of goods out of my arms. "Peter is going with Char, so stay close to Rose's room while I'm gone, okay?"

I knew better than to argue with Jasper about my safety. We had been through too much the last few months for me to put myself in jeopardy, or to give him a reason to unduly worry.

I set the rest of the items on the hallway table outside of Rose's room. "Okay, no problem."

"It won't take me long to go get this guy," he reassured. "I'll be back before ya know it."

"Jasper, I'll be fine. Just be careful." I hooked my hands around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, making sure to add a little bit of tongue with it. He groaned and pulled me closer.

"Ugh, you're killing me," he whispered against my lips.

"Uh excuse me," Esme said. "But unless you two are asking for sudden death, I suggest you go get the good judge and bring him back before that baby comes." She pointed back into the room where Rose was moaning through another contraction.

His arms tightened around me and he hugged me closer. "I love you," he said.

"Love you too babe." I kissed him again and then watched him walk away from me.

"You two are so sugary sweet that it gives me a tooth-ache," Esme said, giving me a one arm hug.

"I know, but I never thought that I could love someone so much," I said, after Jasper had ran back to me for another kiss.

"I know the feeling hun," Esme said. "Carlisle and I have been married for nearly forty years, and the man still amazes me. I can't picture my life without him."

Forty five minutes and another dilated centimeter later Char and Peter returned with the veil, a blue baby bib and Char's grandmother's hair combs that she was going to let Rose borrow.

"A blue baby bib?" Rose asked. "We don't know what the sex of the baby is yet."

"Yes, but it's the only thing we could think of on such a short notice," Char explained, brushing the tangles out of Rose's hair.

"Bella, call Jasper to see if he's on his way back," Emmett said.

I dug around in my purse until I found my phone and then dialed Jasper's number. He didn't answer and I debated whether or not to leave a message. Carlisle had warned Jasper that the little old man was unsteady on his feet and needed assistance with walking so I reasoned that he was probably helping the judge out of the house and into the car.

A half an hour after my first call to Jasper I started to worry. Peter was pacing the hallways and calling his brother's number over and over. Rose was dilated another centimeter and had been warned that they couldn't wait much longer.

An hour after that, several things happened all of a sudden. The hospital Chaplin showed up, but since Rose was at the breaking point she, along with Emmett and the Chaplin—as they recited their marriage vows- were whisked away to the birthing room. Peter was preparing to go look for Jasper, but was apprehensive about leaving Char and I alone, so he called Paul and Jared to meet us at the hospital.

They showed up with worried, almost panic looking expression on their faces.

I didn't need to see Jasper's crushed cell phone- with droplets of blood on it- to know that something was terribly wrong. They said that they found it in the parking lot next to my car.

Jasper was missing, badly hurt and there was no way that we could track him.

I couldn't breathe, my vision blurred and every word they said sounded like I was listening to them from the bottom of a well. I excused myself to the en suite bathroom where I proceeded to have a mini meltdown, complete with throwing up the contents of my stomach and then fist punching the mirror above the sink.

"What the hell is wrong with you Bella?" Carlisle scolded as he picked glass out of my right hand. I had refused the sedative that the nurse offered me, choosing to feel the pain instead. I needed something to anchor me in the moment, to keep me from losing it altogether. "You've got to get yourself together. Having a meltdown is not going to help us find Jasper, and it damn sure isn't good for—"

"I know that Carlisle!" I snapped. "I-I just…needed an outlet…"

Carlisle dropped the tweezers he held and pulled me in to tight hug, kissing my forehead. "I know sweetheart. We'll find him. He probably just dropped the phone and didn't realize it."

The look that Carlisle gave me suggested he knew what he was saying was just to try to cheer me up. We both knew how graceful and attentive to detail Jasper was. There was no way he could just drop his phone and not know it.

I took a deep breath, and gripped the arm of the seat I was sitting in as Carlisle began pulling the edges of my flesh back together with the sharp suture. I gripped my stomach, thinking that I was going to be sick again, but I managed to fight the panic, nauseated feeling that was threatening to show back up. I needed to get my shit together and start thinking logically. There was no way I was going to allow myself to believe that Jasper wasn't going to be okay. We had been through too much, and we had so much more living to do together for me to believe otherwise.

After making sure the stitches were tight, and my hand was wrapped, I joined the discussion Peter was having with Paul and Jared in Carlisle's office.

"How do you know it wasn't Alice?" I asked.

"We've been following her for months," Jared said. "And, at the time that you said Jasper left for the old man's house, Alice was in New York at the theater house overseeing an audition for her next production."

"How can you be certain that she was actually in the building?" Char asked.

"Ever since Thanksgiving, I've been working undercover at the theater as a janitor. Jasper wanted us to keep as close of an eye out on her as we could." Jared pulled out his phone and after flipping through the phone options, pulled up the pictures he was looking for. "I took these this morning, and she was still there when Peter called me with the news of Jasper being missing."

"That's what Jasper meant by Alice not being _that woman_," I mumbled, remembering what he had said in the park.

Paul and Jared both stiffened and took a deep breath. "Right. Alice didn't even know James, and the only interaction they had was that night of Thanksgiving at your house," Paul said. "And her phone records don't show any calls to or from James' number."

"You have her phone records?" Char asked.

"We were only able to get the records for the last few weeks," Jared said.

"We're missing something," Peter said, while pacing and nervously running his hands through his hair. "If it wasn't Alice, then who could it have been? We need to check the parking lot security cameras."

"One step ahead of you," Carlisle said, entering into his office waving the clear DVD case. He popped it into his laptop and loaded the multi-media player.

"Rose. How's Rose?" I managed to ask. I had damn near forgotten all about my brother, my friend and their baby.

"Still pushing," Carlisle said. "It should be any minute now. Esme said she would come and get us as soon as something happened."

It took a while for the application to load, and then to fast forward to about the time Jasper had left the hospital. It physically hurt to see him on the monitor walking toward my car. It was twilight, but even through the grainy mega pixels, I could detect the swagger in his step and the way he held his head up high. I held a hand over my mouth and took several deep breaths to control my shaking.

Char draped her arm around my shoulder, and I was so very glad that I was not going through this alone.

"There!" Peter yelled. "Look, he's stopping to help someone."

Sure enough, Jasper had stooped low, apparently looking at the tire of someone's beige color Crown Vic.

"That looks like his old car!" Char yelled. "I was so glad when he stopped driving that junk. It was right after you slashed his tire, remember Bella?"

I nodded, too choked up to speak. Silent tears ran down my cheeks at the memory of the day I tried slashing his tires, the accident that he almost had and then the massive argument we had afterwards. That argument was the turning point in our relationship. It was that argument that made me start to see him in a different light.

The red headed person he was helping all of a sudden launched themselves at Jasper with a tire iron in their raised hand. Jasper stumbled back, but before his limp body fell to the ground, the person caught him and struggled with tossing him into the trunk of their car.

"NO!" I screamed over and over before my world went black.

**Detective Victoria Simpson POV**

The adrenaline rush felt wonderful, and I giggled like a school girl remembering the sickening thump that the tire iron made to his bone and skin when I slammed it down across his head. Damn his head was hard! I damn near dropped my weapon from the reverberations. Whitlock stumbled back, and I thought that I was going to have to hit him again in order to get him unconscious.

Fortunately, when he stumbled backwards, it was close enough to the open trunk of my car so that I wouldn't have to drag him too far. He was one heavy ass motherfucker though, and I nearly lost my grip on him several times before I could get him inside.

I slammed the trunk closed, tossed the tire iron into the back seat and peeled out of the parking lot so fast that I damn near ran over a little old lady with a cane and a kid on a bike. It wasn't my intention to hurt anyone. Well, no one except Isabella McCarty and her lover boy that I had locked in my trunk now.

At first, I only wanted to get rid of her. She had been the bane of my existence for so long, that it was hard to remember when Isabella McCarty was not causing me some sort of grief. My first memories of her were in that damn summer camp we went to when we were twelve. She thought she was so damn smart, correcting the counselors and running off at the mouth about quantum frequencies and particle physics.

James was always into science stuff, even when we were little and in our first years of school together, he would always be prattling on about Star Wars and splitting atoms or some shit. I just listened to him because that's what good girlfriends do, right? They listen to their boyfriends talk about sports, and other boring shit. But since the day she opened her mouth, he was hooked and practically obsessed with her.

James tried talking to her but she apparently thought that she was too good for him, and would leave him standing like an idiot, staring after her, and mumbling shit long after she had gone. After that disastrous summer camp, things didn't get better.

James and I went back to Georgia, but with the friends he had made at camp, he was still able to get information out of them concerning Bella. Every summer after that, his parents would send him to Connecticut to stay with his uncle the Police Chief. And after every summer, he would come back home more obsessed than before. He said that he would never talk to her, but he would just watch her from afar. He was a stalker at damn thirteen years old!

And then, when he didn't get accepted to M.I.T—where she had, of course, been accepted- I thought that he would be a basket case for the rest of his life. I did everything I could think of to pull him out of his depression. Nothing worked. Finally, after years of being ignored, I yelled and screamed at him that it wasn't normal for him to feel this way about a girl he hardly knew, and that as his girlfriend, I deserved more respect than to be put on the back burner for some other girl.

He yelled at me that I was not his girlfriend and that just because I was a girl that also happened to be his friend, that didn't make me his _girlfriend_. I was devastated. I felt betrayed, like I had spent my entire life pinning away for someone who could care less if I lived or died. It was then that I started planning the demise of Isabella McCarty.

Fast forwarding a couple of years, instead of going off to college like most teens, I joined the army for three years and then the police academy when I decided to not re-enlist. And whether I was dodging bullets for Uncle Sam, or chasing street thugs through Brooklyn, I was making plans to get rid of _her_.

Manipulating Riley was easy. He needed money to get himself out of some serious shit, and I had plenty to give him. My parents had died, leaving me a small fortune. And getting Stefan Vladimir on board was equally easy once I decided to "accidentally" lose a batch of evidence that would incriminate him in a string of drug and armed robbery charges. I owned both of them, and they would do anything I asked.

My original plan was to steal her research and then give it to James. He was so smart, and had worked so diligently to be at the top of his class at Georgia Tech. He was into all of that biochemistry/engineering shit, and since Bella was on the verge of a breakthrough, I knew that he could finish her research, and then claim the victory as his own. He would be regarded as a brilliant scientist, and he would go down in history books as being the one to single handedly save our planet. And then, he would fall in love with me.

But what I wasn't counting on was the two idiots I had hired would attack the girl and lock her in that damn closet though. And while the whole closet thing wasn't my original plan, after thinking about it, it was ingenious and it served my ultimate purpose of finally getting rid of her. Only, I didn't know how tough she was, and the bitch survived.

I thought that once her crime boss boy toy Edward Masen proposed, that I wouldn't need to keep going after Bella. I reasoned that James would see how happy they were and finally leave her alone, and then come to me. But man was I wrong! Again, he was more obsessed about her than ever.

And so, I had to resort to other measures.

The letters didn't work, my threatening phone calls went unnoticed, and the drive-by at that charity thing was tricky, and I damn near got caught escaping the scene of the crime. I hated to kill that cop when he nearly caught me, but there was no way that I was going to jail. Wearing an orange jumpsuit and sharing a cell with a psycho was not the way I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

Then that time I followed, chased and shot at them while driving my blue beat up sedan was supposed to be the icing on the cake. My victory was so close, yet so far away. It did nothing in the way of eliminating her, and it was like the bitch had nine lives or some shit.

In between planning my next trap, I caught James sneaking out of her house one night after breaking in, and the next day I had to go to the bitch's house to retrieve his bag of tools. I hadn't seen the bitch up close in so long, I had damn near forgot what she looked like. The night I destroyed her lab I found all of the shit he had taken from her house. He had made a shrine to her in his office, and it enraged me. As much as I love him, and all of the things I had done for him, it should have been a shrine to _me_! She didn't love him, and he damn sure deserved more than her! Why couldn't he see that? Why couldn't he see _me_?

And now thinking about it, I can't even remember all of the ways that I tried to either scare her or to make James see that she didn't want him. I recall the pictures of her and Whitlock that I had taken and sent to the gossip mags, the rat in the box that I had Stefan order Riley to deliver, and the list went on and on.

But it was at Thanksgiving when I found salvation. Who knew that the McCarty's, the most distinguished family in town, would have a knock down drag out hillbilly fight at the holidays? And it was all caused by one little midget, Alice Brandon.

I didn't care what Alice's reasons were for wanting Bella out of her way, but we both wanted the same thing and we were both ready to do anything to make it happen. So we joined forces like the Wonder Twins and planned the whole bomb thing. Jasper was supposed to be safe and Bella was supposed to be blown to bits. But of course, the bitch lived!

James continued following Bella, and I continued following James. That is, until the night I lost him in that fucking snow storm. That was the same night Whitlock killed the love of my life, the light of my day and the reason I walked the earth. It was also the same night that my tactics changed.

Instead of outright planning to kill Bella, I was going to take away the one thing that she loved the most. Turn about was fair play, right? Whitlock killed my one and only true love; it was only fair that I return the favor.

I was now using Alice to help me kidnap Whitlock. Then I would lure Bella to where I was keeping her fiancé and kill him while she watched, right before I killed her. I also knew that I was going to need to get rid of Alice, because that bitch was a special kind of crazy. If I left her alive, it would be only a matter of time before she came after me too.

As I drove toward my final destination, I had only one thought in my head: I love it when a plan comes together.

* * *

**A/N: So leave me some lovin'. A picture of Bella's ring is posted on my profile page. Check it out!**


	33. Chapter 33

**To Keep You Safe**

**Chapter 33**

**Thanks beta girls!**

**SM owns it!**

**

* * *

****BPOV**

It was raining.

It seemed like it had rained at every funeral I had ever been to.

It rain when we buried Mrs. Weber our housekeeper, it rained when we buried our father, and Emmett once told me it rained the day we buried our mother.

The weather was really not a surprise, and in fact, I welcomed it. After all, how could I bury the man I loved on a sunny day? That would have been cruel, and I know God is not cruel. God didn't take Jasper away from me, that red headed fucker did.

Emmett held one of my hands in his massive one, and wrapped the other arm around my waist, supporting my weight. Peter was holding my other hand in his and an umbrella over us in his other. Rose and Char held onto each other as we approached the green velvet tent.

There were four seats reserved in the front row, and Maria occupied one at the farthest end. She blamed me for her son's death and had pitched a holy fit when Peter stood up to her and said that I would be sitting with his family at his brother's funeral. It didn't matter where I sat or who I sat with, I would be alone for the rest of my life anyway.

Well, not completely alone, I thought as I rubbed my still flat stomach.

I would carry a piece of Jasper with me for the rest of eternity.

I couldn't begin to even tell you what the minister said. Something about life being precious, and that this was not all that God intended for us when we got to the end of our life. When he finished speaking, and after the small crowd had dispersed, I asked Emmett and Peter to just let me sit there for a while longer.

I watched while the men lowered my fiancé into the ground and began back filling the large hole with dirt. I talked to Jasper a little, telling him how much I loved him, and I told him I would make sure his memory lived on in our child, and that I would take care of him or her the best way I could.

When it started thundering and lightning Peter jumped out of the long black limousine and came to escort me back to the car. My family took me home, made sure that I had something to eat and Emmett tucked me into bed like a small child, reminding me that I needed to rest and to try my best to stay stress free. He curled up beside me, much like he used to when I was little, and stayed with me until I fell asleep.

**Twelve Hours Later**

When I woke it was raining.

I remembered waking up at the hospital, but I couldn't remember how I had gotten back home and into my own bed.

_Our bed_.

It took me a second for my eyes to adjust to the dim light, but when I could finally see, I saw Emmett curled up in the bed beside me. We were nose-to-nose, and he was looking at me with a scowl on his face.

"It was just a dream," Emmett said.

"What?" I croaked out. My throat was scratchy like I had been screaming.

"It was just a dream. He's not dead," Emmett said firmly. "You were calling out to him just now. He's not dead."

"Em-"

"I refused to believe that he's dead, and I won't let you believe it either."

I shook my head, disputing what Emmett was telling me. "He's gone-"

Emmett grabbed my arms and shook me a little. "He's not dead, do you hear me? He's not dead!" He yelled, tears in his eyes. "Say it!"

"He's not dead," I mumbled.

"Say it louder!" He growled.

"He's not dead," I said.

"Louder!"

"He's not dead!" I yelled back at him.

He nodded, satisfied with the intensity at which I yelled back at him, and wrapped his arms around me in a bear tight hug. "Good. 'Cause you gotta have faith in that. I swear to God that we'll find him."

**Sixteen hours later**

"Are you telling me that you are refusing to even look at this security footage and help us find this person?" Emmett asked, pacing in front of Chief Swan's desk.

"That's exactly what I'm saying Mr. McCarty. I cannot in good faith use that disk to give you information on anyone on there. This disk was not properly handed over to an officer of the law, it was not logged in as evidence, and it could have been tampered with. We are under no obligation to observe what is on that disk due to the fact that we could be accusing someone for doing something that they did not do." He turned and spat tobacco juice into the metal spittoon.

The smell and sight of the slimly glob of spittle made my stomach churn. I jumped up and ran down the hallway to the ladies restroom, barely making it inside the stall before my breakfast came up.

My nerves were on edge and I had been walking around in a zombie-like daze ever since I had woken up. Jasper had been missing for sixteen hours now, and we hadn't heard a peep out of anyone.

Emmett spotted me coming out of the restroom at the end of the hall and grabbed my hand. "You alright? Let's go," he said, not giving me a moment to answer before pulling me out of the police station behind him.

"Mr. McCarty! Emmett!"

Emmett stopped so abruptly that I crashed into his back. He caught me before I fell to the sidewalk.

"What do you want Newton?" Emmett asked in his don't-fuck-with-me tone.

"I want to help," Mike said.

"Why?"

Mike ran his hand through his hair. "I owe you."

"What?" He asked.

"I owe you," he repeated, louder. "Among other reasons, I acted like a jerk to you in high school Bella, and I want to make it up to you."

"What are your other reasons?" Emmett asked.

He dropped his head and studied the cracks in the side walk. "I'd rather not say."

"If you can't be honest with us, then we don't need your help," Emmett said. "We've got too much going on to deal with your bullshit too. Let's go Bella." Emmett hooked his hand under my arm and pulled me along beside him.

"I know James," he blurted out. "James Collier."

I stopped and turned back to Mike. "How do you know James?" I asked.

"I knew that James had a thing for you ever since he started coming up here to visit his uncle during the summers. He would always ask about you, and he always wanted to hang out where you were. We used to make fun of him because he would never just go talk to you."

Emmett grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him back up against the outside wall of the police station. "What the fuck are you talkin' about?"

"Stop it Em!" I grabbed my brother's arm and tried to pull him off of Mike. "He's a cop Em, and we're right here at the station!"

Reluctantly, Emmett released the hold he had on Mike, shoving him backwards. "You'd better start talking."

Mike straightened his shirt and motioned for us to walk further down the sidewalk. He took a deep breath. "Like I said before, James and I used to hang out around here over the summers when we were younger. I used to think that he just really liked you, but a few months ago he started talkin' about marrying you and taking you somewhere safe where no one could find you."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to, but then you got security, that Whitlock guy, so I didn't think anything else about it."

"Is that why you gave me those license plate numbers?" I asked, thinking about the list of potential plate numbers for the car that chased us the night of Edward's party.

He nodded. "James was my friend, and I didn't want to just rat him out like that, so I figured that your security guy, if he had the right leads, would be able to figure it out and maybe talk to James, get him to back off or somethin'."

"Those plate numbers didn't turn up anything substantial. Whatever plate was on that car, it was fake," Emmett explained. "Do you know where James is?"

Emmett squeezed my hand, signaling to me to stay quiet. He was trying to find out how much Mike knew.

Mike shook his head 'no'. "I talked to him a couple of months ago. He said that he was gonna get a way for a while. He was embarrassed about what you guys found in his office at your lab, so he said that he was gonna go back to China and join that research team he used to work for there. I'm sorry; I should have said something sooner."

I released the breath that I had been holding. Mike had no clue that James was dead and not in China.

"Well it's too late now. Jasper's gone," I said, fighting back the tears.

"No, it's not. You told Swan that you had a security video of Whitlock being kidnapped. I'd like to help."

"What about the Chief?" I asked.

Mike shrugged. "What he don't know, won't hurt him."

X-X-X-X

Emmett slipped the disk in the DVD player and collapsed down into his leather desk chair, scrubbing his face with his hands. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was sticking up on end. Between either running to the hospital for a quick check on Rose and his new daughter, and running tabs on me, he was exhausted.

I felt guilty looking at him. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life, and yet, here he was cleaning up my mess of a life.

"Em, you need to get back to Rose and the baby."

My niece was almost a day old, and she still didn't have a name.

"Rose will kick my ass if I went back there."

"Congratulations on the baby man," Mike said, fist bumping Emmett.

"She needs you," I argued.

"Yeah, and she also told him that if he didn't find Jasper she'd rip his nuts off," Peter said.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

Both men and Char nodded simultaneously.

"Esme said that as soon as the baby popped out she was trying to convince the doctor's to let her leave the hospital early to help us look for Jasper," Char said.

"Oh God," I moaned, feeling the tears slide down my cheeks. I was so very grateful that I had friends who loved me.

"We'll find him Bells," Peter said. "Paul and Jared are out looking for clues now, and I've called in a few favors I have with-"

"Wait! Stop it there!" Mike yelled. "Oh my God."

"What? What is it?" Emmett asked.

"I know that car."

"Who is it?" I demanded.

"And I'd know that red hair anywhere," he mumbled. "Detective Simpson."

**Eighteen hours later**

"_Please, if anyone knows anything, tell the police. My son is a good man. He doesn't deserve this. His family needs him. His child needs him," Maria pleaded into the TV camera._

"His child? What the hell is she talking about?" Peter asked, moving closer to the TV.

The camera was suddenly thrust into Alice Brandon's face. She was crying, snot dripping down onto her top lip.

"_Please, my baby needs a father. We just found out that we're expecting. I-I can't have this baby alone," she wailed, burying her face into Maria shoulder. "I need him."_

It felt like I was floating above my body, staring down at the world around me. Was I dreaming again? Was this some sort of sick joke?

"You have got to be kidding me!" Emmett yelled, slamming his fist down onto the coffee table. "Turn that shit off!"

The sound of Emmett's fist pounding on the table snapped me back to reality. I jumped off the sofa and ran to the powder room. My stomach was empty because it had been hours since the last time I actually ate anything, so I just dry heaved until it felt like my esophagus was trying to leave my body.

"It's okay honey, we'll find him," Char said, kneeling beside me and holding my hair out of the toilet.

"Char, was that real? Was Jasper's mom and Alice really just on TV begging for information? Did Alice really just say that she's carrying his baby?"

Char pressed a cold wash cloth against my face, wiping the tears and snot away. "I don't know how both of those crazy bitches convinced someone to put them on TV, but yeah, it was real."

"She thinks she's having his baby?" I laughed, clutching my own stomach and trying to convince it to stop wanting to retch. "She's nuts. My man wouldn't touch that flea ridden ho-bag if his life depended on it."

"It's just a publicity stunt. They both love the attention and want sympathy."

"She's his mother though," I argued.

"Being someone's parent doesn't mean that they can't be mentally disturbed."

There was a knock and the door opened. Emmett thrust his phone out at me.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Bella!" Rose's voice rang out over the speakerphone. "Don't you worry honey, as soon as I get out of this hospital, Imma kill that troll bitch. Both of them!"

We could hear Esme in the background telling Rose to lower her voice and then cooing at the baby.

"Rose, you said that you were going to remain calm if I let you talk to Bella," Emmett scolded.

"I am calm! I'm just so fuckin' mad! How can they put those nut jobs on TV? And she says she's pregnant? HA! Fat chance at that. Jasper wouldn't touch that flea-ridden ho-bag with a ten foot pole!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Char and I couldn't help but the burst out laughing.

"Rose and you are definitely on the same metal wave length." Char giggled.

We could hear Rose breathing hard, trying to calm herself down. "Listen Bells, my Emmy will find Jasper, you gotta believe that."

I wiped the tears out of my eyes and looked up at my brother. "I know, Rose."

"I love ya hun, and I love Jasper like he was my brother. As soon as I get out of here, the three of us, you, me and Char, are gonna go all Kill Bill on these bitches. You got it?"

"Rose, just take care of yourself and my niece."

"Don't you worry about us babe. Little Miss just learned how to latch onto my nips and before long, she's gonna be kicking her own set of asses like her mamma."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Great, that's all I need."

"You know you love it when I get into girl fight mode, Emmy."

"I love ya babe," Emmett said.

"I love you too Emmy. Just take care of my sisters and find Jasper!"

Emmett hung up the phone and leaned down to press a kiss on my forehead. "We'll find him Bells."

"I know."

**Twenty-three hours later**

"I don't know how to do this!" I yelled. The waiting was killing me. Facing the unknown was like plunging a dagger into my heart each time it beat.

"Bella, you have to stop this pacing!" Carlisle yelled.

"He's out there hurt, and alone, and that bitch is going to kill him! How can you tell me to calm down?" I screamed.

Carlisle grabbed my arms and pulled me down to the sofa. "Look at me, Bella."

"You'd better not sedate me Carlisle," I warned. "I swear to God I'll punch you before I let you dope me up."

He lightly chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "You said the same thing to me when you were five years old and you had just broken your ankle. Only you said it in a mixture of Italian and broken English. Do you remember what I said back to you?"

I wiped the tears off my cheeks. "You said that your medicine was magical, and it would take all my pain away."

He kissed my forehead and stroked my hair. "You were such a spitfire kid at times. And then so lost as you got older, struggling to fit in wherever you could."

"But Carlisle, you can't take _this_ pain away. Your medicine can't heal _this_ wound. It hurts too bad."

Carlisle pressed his handkerchief in my hand. "Bella dear, medicine comes in many forms."

"What are you talking about?"

"Three days ago you came to me asking about doing a laparoscopy procedure for your endometriosis. Remember?"

I took a couple of deep breaths. Three days seemed so long ago. "Yeah, and?"

"I drew your blood, and you peed in a cup."

"Ewww Carlisle, what's your point?"

He pulled away to look down at me. "When was the date of your last period?"

I was sure he was laughing at the blank stare on my face, and if at that exact moment someone had held a gun to my head there was no way I could remember how to count backwards.

I doubled over as the realization of what he was trying to say hit me. He stroked my back, softly reminding me that I needed to breathe.

I sat up and looked at him. "I-I'm…are you sure?"

"Bella, I've been a doctor for longer than you've been alive. And the one thing I know, without a doubt in my mind, is how to read a pregnancy test. I thought you would have figured it out by now, but then I realized you're too stressed out to notice."

"But I've been on the pill since I was sixteen. I've never missed a day."

"Eight weeks ago you had a stomach virus that I recommended antibiotics for."

"Oh God." I buried my face in my hands.

"So you see Bella, the medicine you have to take now is rest, eating right and you have to stay as stress free as possible."

I jumped up. "But Jasper isn't here, Carlisle!"

Carlisle took my hands in his, pulling me back down to the sofa. "I know that Bella, and we're doing everything we can to find him. But you have to do everything you can to save this baby."

"I need him Carlisle, I need him. He…he's my entire world. I can't do this without him." I fell back onto the sofa, curling myself into the fetal position around my unborn child. "I need him," I murmured over and over, Alice's words coming back to haunt me.

Carlisle knelt down in front of me, stroking my hair and rubbing my back. "We'll get him back sweetie, I promise."

**Thirty six hours later**

I rolled over and came face-to-face with Rose, and my niece rooting around at Rose's breasts searching for her meal.

"Rose, what are you doing in my bed?"

"Well, I was trying to sleep, but you kept moaning 'right there…oh yeah baby' so loud, that it woke me and Little Miss up."

If it had been any other person saying that, it would have sounded insensitive and crass. Coming from Rose, I knew that it was meant to make me laugh.

"Yeah, it sounded like he was givin' it to ya good too," Char said sleepily from behind me.

I rolled back over to see Char.

What the hell?

And because my hormones were out of whack, and the one person I wanted more than life itself was missing, I burst into tears while laughing and snorting at the same time. Char and Rose both moved closer to me, rubbing my arms, and holding my hands while I cried.

They knew that I needed their comfort _and_ their laughter without me having to ask for it.

**Forty-hours later**

They say that if a missing person isn't found within the first forty-eight hours, then every hour afterwards, the chances of finding them alive greatly diminishes.

"She said what!" Rose yelled, pacing with Little Miss strapped to her body in one of those weird looking baby wrap things.

Emmett took her hands and, gently but firmly, forced her down onto the sofa beside me. "One more outburst, one more time of me telling you to sit still, and I'm taking you back to the hospital. You got it wifey?"

"Yes husband," Rose said meekly.

Rose had sweet talked Emmett into agreeing to ask the doctor for an early release from the hospital under the stipulation that she would stay in bed and not get overly worked up or excited.

Yeah right. There was never a time when Rose was not worked up or excited about something.

I heard the doorbell ringing in the distance and Peter's muffled voice speaking to whoever was at the door.

Emmett ran his fingers through his hair. He had slept a little easier now that Rose and the baby were home, but he was still at his breaking point, a fact that Rose quickly picked up on. "I'm serious Rose, you just had our baby. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Rose looked down at her sleeping baby. "I'll be good. I promise."

"Tell me again what she said, please?" I asked, breathing deeply and rubbing my stomach. I was trying to keep my nerves in check and even out my stress level. Ever since Carlisle pointed out my current condition, I was doing my best to stay calm, even when I felt like screaming, stomping and throwing something. I had to keep my baby safe and alive because I knew that Jasper would be thrilled if—when- he found out.

"She said that she wants you to meet her tomorrow at one o'clock at the pier. She will then call you once you get there and give your further directions."

"I don't understand; what is she to Jasper? What is she to _me_? What's the connection?" I asked. "She's not even asking for money."

"I don't know Bells, I—"

Mike Newton burst through the library door, throwing a stack of papers down onto the coffee table. "James Collier!"

"What?" Emmett asked, immediately going on alert.

"She was in love with James." He began rifling through the papers, pulling out pictures, handwritten letters and emails. "I searched her apartment, and I found all of this stuff. There's so much more of it too. She's been following him, while he followed you."

"What?" I asked, not really believing what I was seeing.

"Oh hell," Rose said, holding up one of the pictures.

It was a picture of us at the summer science camp, only my face was circled in red ink, and the words _'Die Bitch'_ were written across my forehead.

"She wasn't in the other picture," Rose said. "You have the exact same picture, only she wasn't in it."

I closed my eyes, thinking back to that day at camp. "They took two pictures. I…I r-remember it now! This boy tried to stand next to me while we were taking it. He was always trying to talk to me…but I thought he was just making fun of me like the others… so I would run away from him. But this little red headed girl… s-she would yell at him, and s-she would always try to… t-trip me, or push me down the steps at lunch. She hit me that day, and they sent her to time-out while they took the next picture."

"James and Victoria," Mike said. "She was in love with him."

I opened my eyes. "She wants to kill me because Jasper…"

"…because James went away," Peter said quickly, eyeing Mike.

"Because James went away," I confirmed. "What time do I have to meet her?"

"No, absolutely not!" Emmett yelled. "Are you crazy?"

"She called, Emmett! If I don't go, she may kill him!"

"You are not going anywhere! Especially in your condition."

I jumped up. "What are you talking about?"

"You think I don't know? You think I can't see it?" Emmett asked. "Jasper would kick my ass, and rightly so, if I let you go out there."

"What are both of you talking about?" Rose asked, looking back and forth between her husband and me.

"Carlisle told you?" I asked, internally cursing the fact that the man couldn't keep a secret. I had specifically asked him to not tell anyone—especially Emmett—before I could tell them myself first.

"Bella, I know you better than I know myself. I can't tell you how many of your shitty diapers I used to clean up or how many times I wiped your nose when you were sick. I could set my watch with how regular your periods are!"

"Emmett!" I yelled, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Have you forgotten the talk we had when you were thirteen? You woke me up in the middle of the night because you thought you were gonna die from bleeding to death!"

"Whoa! Too much information," Peter said.

"When you turned sixteen your craps were so bad that you were in bed for days. I'm the one who took you to the doctor, Bella," Emmett said. "Of course I know when your periods are!"

"That was ten years ago!"

"It doesn't matter if it was ten years, or ten months ago! You're rounder in places that you used to not be so round in," he said, waving his hands in the general direction of my chest. "And, you haven't just been on your _once_ a month cookie binge, you've been eating them _all _month!"

"How the hell do you know all that about her, but you couldn't even tell when I was preggers?" Rose asked.

I folded my arms across my breasts. "So you base your theory on me gaining weight and eating more cookies than I usually do." I took a deep breath, trying to get my emotions in check, but the tears came anyway. There was no point in arguing with Emmett when I knew he was right. "I need him, Em. Our child needs him."

He pulled me close to his chest, holding me while I cried. "I know Bellyboo, I know. And we'll get him back; we'll figure something out. But you are not gonna put yourself or this child in danger. I won't let that happen."

**JPOV**

My head hurt.

My head felt like it had been split open with a dull butter knife and left outside for the birds to pick over what was left of my brain.

I tried to raise my arms to hold onto my head, but something was preventing them from moving. Since I couldn't raise my head up to see what was wrong with my arms, I wiggled around a little onto my side to see what was restraining my arms. Even though my vision was blurry in one eye, and almost nonexistent in the other because my forehead over my eye was tight and swollen, I could still make out the metal shackles binding me to the cot I was lying on.

Where the hell was I and what the hell happened to me?

I lay back against the flat as a pancake mattress and fought the need to throw up. Mind over matter does not work in cases like this though, and I barely got my head turned to the side in enough time to keep from choking on my own vomit.

I groaned, and felt the blackness take over.

Judging by the light coming in through the wood slats covering the windows, I estimated it to be early morning. I could hear birds outside chirping, what sounded like a ship's fog horn going off and the smell of salt in the air.

The fact that I was taking notice of my surroundings either meant that I was dreaming, or the birds hadn't picked out all of my brains yet.

I lifted my head off the pillow and noticed that it didn't feel as heavy as it did the first time I had moved it, but it still hurt like a motherfucker.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. My vision was still blurry, but not as much as before and it was blurry in both eyes now, not just one. I sent a silent prayer up for small things—at least I wasn't totally blind.

But I was still chained to a bed, and I still couldn't remember what in the world had brought me to this hell.

_Bella is safe_, my inner voice whispered to me.

I closed my eyes. "Bella is safe," I croaked out loud to the empty room.

"She won't be for long!"

My eyes popped open and I saw a red demon dancing over me.

And I fainted again.

X-X-X-X

_Bella._

_Bella!_

_Where was Bella?_

My mind kept playing her name on loop, and I almost called it out loud, but then I suddenly remembered the red demon saying that my Bella wouldn't be safe for long. I had to get to her. I made Bella a promise that I would keep her safe, even if it meant my own life.

What day was it? How long had I been here? Where was _here _and how do I get the hell out of it? And, how the fuck do I keep my head from pounding like that?

The last thing I remembered was bending over to help some chick change her tire. I knew that I didn't have enough time to be stopping to help someone, but I couldn't just leave her stranded out in a parking lot at that time of the evening. Sound Beach was relatively safe, but anything could happen, and usually when you least expected it.

_Like getting hit over the head with a tire iron and being shackled to a bed_, I thought.

_Okay Whitlock, get your shit together!_

What do I know for a fact?

One, I have to pee. Damn that Big Gulp from the Seven-Eleven!

Two, it feels like I'm gonna throw up.

Hold on. I turned my head to the side and hurled, trying to project it far enough away from me that I wasn't laying in it, or constantly smelling it.

Done.

Three, I think I was somewhere near the bay. I could still smell the salt and what sounded like sea gulls squawking.

Four, and most importantly, I had to protect Bella.

But first, I had to pee.

"Help," I yelled, but it came out more as a whisper.

I cleared my throat and tired again. The sound reverberated inside of my skull, and the nauseated feeling I had before returned. I took a couple of deep breaths and centered my focus. After spending eighteen months in the desert fighting terrorists, car bombs, sand fleas, and dust storms, I knew a thing or two about survival and getting myself out of sticky situations.

Too bad I couldn't think of any of those ways at the moment.

But what I did know was that I needed to check myself out, just to make sure that things were in their proper place and working condition. So mentally, I did a quick physical scan and determined that the only thing really hurting was my head. My hands, arms and legs, while shackled, were not injured. That meant if I could find a way out of this mess, then I could carry my head with me when I ran. See how bad my head was hurting? I was thinking up stupid shit.

_Okay Whitlock, get back on track!_

I needed to get the lay of the land. If I could find out how the room or building was situated, then I could find a way out of it. I also needed a weapon. Who knew how many red headed demons were dancing around out there, waiting to pounce on me and drag me to hell?

I was lying on a metal cot, which meant that if I could find a way to disassembled it, then I could use the rails as a sword or bat of some sort. Too bad I didn't have any chewing gum, a tampon and a match. I could make a bomb like MacGuyver! There I go with the stupid shit again. What I wouldn't give to get my hands on some Tylenol!

So, I could use the cot, but I had to find a way to get off it first. Which led me back to square one; I really, really had to pee.

"Hello?" I called out, opting for something that sounded a little more like a man would say. I refused to start calling for help like some little lost boy. I just hope I didn't piss myself like some little lost boy! There was no response, and before I could call out again, I heard voices.

"What the hell is up with the TV shit?"

"Who do you think that McCarty bitch is gonna accuse first in all of this? She damn sure don't know 'bout you, and with my track record, that leaves the police and FBI comin' after _me_. I had to do something to get the heat off my back."

_Alice?_ Was that who's voice that was?

What the hell? How was that possible? Paul and Jared had been watching her every move. In fact, I had been on the phone with Jared confirming her location when I got hit by that chick with the tire iron.

"But to say that you were with child, Alice? Really?"

What the fuck? Alice was lying about being pregnant with _my_ child? The only person that was gonna have my baby was Bella!

Bella!

I took a deep breath, trying to keep the tears at bay when I thought about my future wife and the mother of my future children. _One day_, I thought, i_f only we could be so lucky_.

"How do you think I convinced his mama to put me on TV with her?" Alice said. "Besides, that woman is dying for a grandchild, and I'm gonna give her one."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

Alice laughed. "As soon as we get rid of the bitch, I plan to move Jasper to a little love nest in the woods I've got set up. I'll be pregnant before the end of the summer."

"What do you plan to do, tie the man up and make him submit to you?"

"I'll do whatever it takes. You just make sure the bitch gets here tomorrow without being followed. I can't wait to show her what we've got in store for her."

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**AN: Leave me some love, hit that little review button down there!**

**Repeat : I believe in HEA!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

**SM owns it.**

**My betas have been busy red penning for me all week. Thanks guys: Cullen818 and JamesRamsey.**

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**JPOV**

"Why are you doing this?" I asked as Victoria tightened the leather cuffs around my wrist again. She restrained me to the bed, but allowed me to stay upright in a sitting position this time.

Victoria had mercifully allowed me to get up and use the bathroom with dignity instead of letting me piss myself like some invalid. While up, I made sure to memorize the floor plan, the little bit of it I saw, of the building she was keeping me in.

I knew that we were on the east side, third floor of the warehouse and the fifteen by twenty room I was being kept in had a two inch thick steel door with three deadbolt locks. The bathroom was approximately forty feet down the hallway to the left, and there were four other rooms like mine, only she kept the doors of those closed. There was a window with a lattice shaped mesh wire over it at the other end of the hallway, and a staircase bisected the two hallways.

I hadn't seen Alice yet, but I heard her voice from inside one of the rooms when Victoria let me up to use the restroom. From her responses, it sounded like she was talking to her doctor. She mentioned her temperature and ovulation days.

I rolled my eyes at that one. If that crazy bitch thought I could even get hard for her, she was going to be sorely disappointed. Just thinking about her touching me had my balls trying to crawl back inside my body.

"You killed the love of my life," Victoria said.

I thought for a second, trying to figure out what she was talking about. "James? Are you serious?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"'Cause he was obsessively in love with my Bella," I said. "Why would you want a man who didn't want you?"

She looked at me like I had grown two heads, and given the fact that my head was still pounding, I reached up to touch it to make sure I still only had one.

"He would have wanted me if it hadn't been for her."

"So you arranged all of that stuff to eliminate her?" I shook my head. The little filter in my brain that should have signaled it was time for me to stop talking had apparently gone on the fritz as a result of my head injury. "That's stupid. I mean, you're an attractive chick—in a weird psycho type of way. Why not just go after some other guy?"

"Why are you trying to egg me on?"

I shrugged as much as the restraints would allow. "I'm just trying to understand you. I've got some friends, maybe I could introduce you. They like girls with a little bit of crazy in 'em."

She threw back her head and laughed. "You're funny. It's too bad Imma have to kill ya."

"WHAT?" Alice yelled, coming into the room. "What the fuck did you just say, bitch?"

Victoria whirled around. "Nothing; I didn't say anything."

"Get away from him!" Alice ordered.

Victoria moved away from the bed, keeping a careful eye on Alice.

I knew then that Alice's plans for me and Bella were not the same as Victoria's plans for us. But how could I use that to my advantage?

Alice was watching Victoria like a hawk, almost as if she stared her down long enough, the red headed bitch would start talking. The two women circled each other, not breaking their stare.

"Did you complete the perimeter check?" Victoria asked. "We need to make sure no one is out there waiting to help her when she shows up."

Alice nodded, moving closer to me. "Everything is secure."

Victoria chanced a quick glance at her watch. "We've got a couple of hours. I've got some last minute preparations to complete."

"Yeah, you just go do that."

"Make sure you do another sweep before she comes," Victoria reminded her.

We both watched as Victoria disappeared through the open door. Alice turned to me and dropped down on the bed beside me.

"What the hell is going on, Alice?"

She reached up and stroked the bump on my forehead. "Did she hit you really hard with that tire iron, Jazzy-pooh?"

I pulled away from her touch. "What do you think, Alice? I was unconscious when she brought me in here."

"I'm sorry about that, baby, but it had to be done."

"Why, Alice, why?"

"So that we can be together of course."

"Do you really think that Victoria is gonna let me walk out of here alive?"

"Of course she will, we both know you didn't mean to kill James; it was Bella you were trying to kill instead."

"What?" I asked, confused. "What did you say?"

She rolled her eyes. "She was trying to trap you into marrying her. So you figured that the only way to be with me was to get rid of her…for good. But, James got in the way, and you accidentally killed him instead."

"Alice—"

"But I don't want you to worry. Once we kill Bella, we'll be together forever."

I struggled against the restraints. "Alice, let me out of these!"

She moved over me, straddling my hips. "Not now baby. Bella will be here in about two hours, and then we'll let you watch while we kill her. That way you'll know no one will ever take you away from me again."

She pushed my head back against the wall and kissed me. I closed my mouth and turned my head, refusing to submit to her.

"It's okay. I understand you want to wait until we get rid of Victoria to consummate our new relationship. We'll have lots of time for this later."

"Get rid of Victoria? But, isn't she your friend?"

Alice ran her hands up and down my chest. "You're so beautiful. I can't believe I left you for Jane."

"Are you planning to kill Victoria?"

She shifted on my lap, pulling away so that she could unbuckle my jeans. "I don't know if I can wait for this."

There was no way I was going to allow her to go down there. "Alice, look at me."

She ignored me and continued to pull my zipper down.

"Alice!"

"What?" she asked, finally looking up at me.

"What are your plans for us?" I asked, trying to distract her.

"I didn't do a very good job of explaining this plan to you, did I?"

"No, tell me now, so that I'll know how to play my part when the time comes."

She giggled. "You wanna role play?"

"Umm, yeah. Let's role play. Tell me, from the beginning, what the plan is."

"It's all rather simple. Bella will be here in a little while. Victoria plans to bring her up here, tie her up and torture her before she kills her. And then, I'll release you, you will turn the gun on Victoria, and kill her. Then we'll take off."

"So which room are you guys gonna take Bella into?"

"Hmm, probably the one next door. It has hooks hanging from the ceiling, so we can string her up!"

I swallowed the bile in my throat and sent up a silent prayer that Bella would stay the hell away from this place.

"And then what?" I asked.

"I thought at first that maybe we could stick around here for a while, just until the baby is born—you know, so that Maria could meet her grandchild. But then with two murders in little 'ole Sound Beach, that may create a fuss. So we'll have to immediately leave the country for a while."

"Where will we go?" I asked, faking enthusiasm. I knew that if I could keep her talking about our so-called plans, then when the time came, she would be convinced that I was on her side and she would somehow slip up.

"I was thinking about South America. There's a little island off the coast of Rio that a friend of mine owns. He's gonna let us have it for the honeymoon."

"Honeymoon?"

She nodded, her head looking like a little bobble-head doll. "We'll have to go to the court house to get married right now, but we can have a bigger wedding after the baby is born."

"That's the second time you've mentioned a baby Alice. Are you pregnant?"

"Not yet, but I will be soon enough. I remember how insatiable you are."

She tried to kiss me again, but I turned my head. "Don't you wanna wait to do that, Alice? Just until we're completely free?"

She sighed. "I suppose so."

"Do you think you could loosen these restraints, they're cutting off my circulation?"

She seemed to think about it for a moment. "Well, okay. But you got to promise not to try anything." She wagged her tiny finger in my face.

I kissed her finger and grinned at her. "I promise. After all, I want Bella to be surprised when she gets here."

She stroked my face. "I knew you still loved me."

I nearly choked. "Yup, that's right. I love you," I said; my mouth tasted like ass.

She loosened the leather restraints, and then moved off my lap. "I've got some stuff to do. You just rest here for a while, okay?"

"I'll be right here…baby." I smiled brightly at her.

As soon as Alice left, I wiggled my body around, managing to get my legs underneath me. When Victoria knocked me over the head with the tire iron, she had apparently searched my body and found my gun, but what she didn't find was the tactical flip blade buck knife I kept strapped to my calf muscle.

I waited until I couldn't hear anyone moving outside of the door before releasing the knife holster. The titanium blade cut through the restraints like hot butter, and I was free within seconds.

If those two crazy bitches thought I was going to let them kill my Bella, then they had another thing coming.

**BPOV**

I must be _outside _of my mind.

_I should just go commit myself now_, I thought.

Jasper had been missing for fifty-six hours now, and in seven hours I was supposed to meet up with the woman who had taken him from me. Only Emmett and Peter were determined to not let me go anywhere near the pier where she was holding Jasper.

Their grand plan was to send a decoy in—Peter dressed as a woman—to take Victoria out. There were two problems with that plan. Peter outweighed me by like a hundred pounds, and he was at least six inches taller than me. Plus, who knew where she was really keeping Jasper. He could be at the pier or somewhere else. And, even if Peter was successful in capturing Victoria alive, I was certain that the vile bitch wouldn't tell us where Jasper was.

So yeah, that plan was not going to work.

_Not like my plan is any better_, I thought as I rang the doorbell for a second time.

I heard a string of curse words and the door was snatched open.

Edward Masen stood in the doorway, bare chest with a towel thrown over his shoulder and grey athletic pants hanging low on his hips. He was breathing hard like he had been running and his green eyes danced with humor when he caught me checking out his six pack.

I was crazy in love with Jasper, and I was willing to risk my life for him, but I wasn't dead, and there was no way I could deny that Edward looked amazing.

So sue me.

"Hello Edward."

"Hello Bella." He leaned against the door-jam, crossed his ankles and turned up a bottle of water.

"Who is that Eddie?" a female voice asked.

_Eddie?_ Edward hated to be called Eddie.

"Just an old friend, baby," Edward called out over his shoulder.

"Well, tell him to come in. Breakfast is almost ready."

Edward didn't move, but stood there staring at me.

"Are you gonna let me in or not…Eddie?" I asked, taunting him.

He grimaced at the use of his nickname, but pushed off the door jam and let me in. Yep, he still hated to be called that, but why was he putting up with it from her?

And then I saw her.

She was six feet of nothing but titties and ass, standing at the breakfast buffet with a skin tight leopard leotard and sneakers on.

"New work-out partner?" I asked, smirking at him over my shoulder.

"Yeah, I had to find a replacement for my last girlfriend," he whispered in my ear as he walked past me. He slipped his arm around his leopard lady and kissed her neck. "Hey baby, why don't you take your breakfast out to the patio and eat."

"Who is that, Eddie?"

"Just a friend."

She eyed me suspiciously, and then turned her nose up at me before turning back to Edward. "No, I think I'll hang out in here," she said.

Edward's eyes flashed with anger and he grabbed her elbow. "Patio. Now," he said, with a light but forceful shove in that direction, still holding onto her.

Leopard lady tried to wrench her arm out of his grasp, but he held her tight until they reached the French doors. He closed the doors in her face and then turned the blinds to block her view of us.

"Breakfast?" he asked, holding his hand out to the buffet.

My refusal was on the tip of my tongue when my stomach growled, reminding me that my child was hungry. I picked up a plate and began filling it with fruit, eggs, bacon, mini quiche, homemade biscuits and gravy and hash browns.

"Hungry much?" Edward asked, looking at my plate running over.

"Yeah, so what of it?"

He chuckled and poured me a tall glass of orange juice.

"Where's the rest of the family?" I asked between mouthfuls of hash brown.

"If you're worried whether or not there's enough for seconds, don't. The cook can make more."

We continued eating in silence, but truthfully, I was stalling. I was racking my brain with how to ask him what needed to be asked.

"Okay, so I know that you didn't come here to eat breakfast," Edward said.

I shoved the rest of the bacon into my mouth, chewed for a moment and then swallowed with a big gulp.

"I need your help."

He laughed. "I figured as much." He sipped his coffee, staring at me. "So, you want me to get rid of this Alice woman."

"What? No, why would you think that?"

"She's pregnant with your man's baby," he stated as if it were an obvious fact.

I laughed. I laughed so hard I nearly peed myself and had to be excused to the bathroom before I had an accident in the middle of the dining room.

"Are you okay now?" Edward asked me when I returned.

I nodded, still wiping tears out of my eyes. "No, she's not pregnant with Jasper's baby."

"Are you sure?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

He held his hands up in defense. "Okay, so what do you need my help with?"

I pulled the pictures of Victoria Simpson out of my back pocket and slid them across the white linen table cloth.

"The short story is that this woman wants me dead, and she's using Jasper to get to me."

Edward flipped through the pictures then slid them back across the table to me.

"Where does Alice fit in?"

"She's in cahoots with Victoria because she's in love with Jasper."

"So this Victoria woman has kidnapped Jasper to draw you out in order to kill you. Then Alice is gonna abscond with Jasper to never been seen again?"

"I don't know what Alice's plans are, but I assume it's something like that."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"We need back up."

"Back up?"

"I'm supposed to meet her at one o'clock today down at the pier. If you could spare some of your men to stake out and help surround her, then we can capture her and persuade her to tell us where Jasper is."

"Persuade or torture?"

"What difference does it make so long as she tells us where he is?"

He shrugged. "I was just curious."

"So, are you gonna help me or not?"

"Why should I help you?"

"I can pay you for your trouble."

He laughed and sat back in his chair. "Tell me, Isabella, how much value do you place on the life of my men?"

He had me. There was no quantitative answer to that question. All life was precious; even with the unlawful, morally debased things he had instructed his men to do.

"Do you think I actually need your money?"

"You owe me," I said.

"How do you figure?"

"You've threatened my family, kidnapped me, hit me, tried to rape me and basically just been an overall dick to me. This is your chance to redeem yourself."

"You threw my proposal at me and then slept with another man!" he yelled, slamming his fist down on the table.

The china rattled and the silver candelabras shook.

"I never cheated on you!" I yelled back. "I loved you, and you tossed it away."

He ran his fingers through his hair, roughly scrubbing his scalp. "You broke my heart," he said so softly that I almost missed it. "I've grown up and been around evil and violence for so long that I didn't know how to properly love you. I didn't want to appear weak in front of my cousins and uncles; I had to show them that I was ready to lead this family."

"I never meant to hurt you," I said.

He nodded, tracing the rim of his coffee cup with his finger. "I know," he whispered.

"I have to save him, Edward."

He got up and moved to kneel beside me. "What if I need you to save me?" he asked, staring deep into my eyes.

I ran my fingers across his cheeks, staring back at him. The Edward I used to know was still there, somewhere buried underneath the hard exterior of hate. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch, releasing the breath he was holding.

"I love him, and I-I can't live without him."

X-X-X-X-X

"I don't like this," Emmett said for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes.

"I'll be okay," I said and squeezed his hand.

"How do you know Masen will uphold his end of the deal?"

"Because, there is no _deal._ He agreed to help us, and I trust him."

"Well I don't, and I'd be willing to bet that Jasper wouldn't either," he mumbled.

Peter adjusted the bullet proof vest he helped me get into and picked at the fit of my jacket that covered it, making sure that I didn't look unnaturally puffy.

"Ya know, this ain't gonna help if she shoots you in the head," Emmett grumbled.

"She's not gonna shoot her in the head," Edward said. He approached us wearing a black Italian suit, expensive leather shoes and dark aviator sunglasses; he looked like a true gangster. He slung his M40A5 rifle with a telescopic scope and sound suppressor over his shoulder. "I've got the best outlaw snipers working for me, and they know that if she gets hurt, their lives are over. So chill out, big brother."

"I'm not your fuckin' brother," Emmett said.

"Damn right, my brother wouldn't be caught dead sportin' that ugly mug of yours."

"You don't have a brother," I said.

"Yeah, but he does have one ugly sister," Peter quipped.

"Don't be so mean to Tanya, Peter," I joked.

"Ha, ha," Edward said sarcastically. "Are you ready to do this, baby girl?"

"Wait a second, how can we be certain that Victoria hasn't spotted your men?"

"I told you, I've got the best outlaws in the country working for me. We've swept the area and there are no cameras or listening devices anywhere."

"You managed to do all that in the last six hours?" Emmett asked.

"No, I own this fuckin' pier," Edward said. "And while I don't use this particular building, we get shipments in here three times a week down at the dock. I would know if someone is watching something."

"Shipments of what?" Peter asked.

"You don't want to know," Edward said.

"Well then how do we know that you aren't working with Victoria?"

"Emmett, just stop it!" I yelled. "We don't have time for this."

Emmett took a deep breath, released it and then kissed me on the cheek. "Fine. I'm going to get into position."

"Me too," Peter said, giving me a quick hug. "Remember, if you sense anything is off, get out of there immediately. Mike said that he didn't think Victoria would kill Jasper until she can get you two together in the same room."

I nodded and took a couple of deep breaths to steady my heart beat.

"Everything will be fine," Edward said as we watched my brother's walk away.

"Okay, remember the plan?" I asked him.

"Yeah. You drive to the meeting point with me hiding in the back. Once Vicky comes out to get you, I wait until you get inside the building, to follow in with my men."

"You think this will work?"

"Hey, no doubts, okay?"

"Okay," I said.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

Edward grabbed me and pushed me back against the side of the SUV, his mouth attacking my own. I tried pushing him away, but his fingers were wrapped in my hair, holding me in place while he kissed me. Once I realized that he wasn't kissing me in attempt to win me back, that it was more of a good-bye kiss, I relaxed against him, and kissed him back. Strange as it sounded, this was his apology and his closure. And, I needed it almost as much as he did.

"Bella," he whispered against my lips.

I opened my eyes to look up at him. "Yeah?"

"I'll always be here for you…and the baby."

"How did you know…?"

He grinned and squeezed my bottom. "You're glowing and your tits are enormous."

I lightly punched him. "Stop staring at my breasts."

He kissed me again, a quick peck on the lips. "C'mon, let's go get daddy."

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**AN: So, what do ya think? Hit that little review button down there and let me know!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

**Alright guys, it looks like FFn is own it's way to getting things worked out, so make sure to show me lots of love. This is the last chapter before the Epilogue-which will hopefully be out before the week is up.**

**Writing this fic has been quite the experience. I have learned a lot about writing and a lot about myself. I don't have the typing space or time to say how much I love you guys for tuning into each chapter and letting me know how much you like my story and the way I have shaped SM's characters that we have all come to love. I have read every single review and I have even made a few virtual friends along the way...some I even hope to be able to meet for lunch one day (you know who you are)!**

**I cannot say enough about my betas: Cullen818 and JamesRamsey. You guys are the bestest beta's a new writer could ask for, and thank you seems so generic for how I feel about the way you have helped me. But, I will say it anyway: THANK YOU!**

**Some of you are reading my other fic, tHiRtEen, and I thank you. But if you're not reading it, shame on you! lol **

******Make sure to put me on Author Alert if you wish to keep up with potential future stories (I'm working on a 3rd person fic now, and I will finish it and start to post it after I finish tHiRtEen. Writing two fic's at once is HARD! So I want to make sure that I give both fic's the attention they deserve. I've already had a few readers pre-read some of the chapters, and they are really liking it!)**

**This chapter switches POV's a lot. I HATE doing that, but in order to detail the action, it had to be done.**

**Enough of my yammering...**

**SM owns it!**

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**BPOV**

I drove to the rendezvous point with shaky, sweaty hands. Nothing in this world scared me more than the fact that in a few short minutes, I could lose it all—Jasper, our baby and my life. I knew that if I lost the first two, then there would be no point in living anyway, and I would gladly give up my life to find them in the afterlife.

"Just stay calm, Bella, I'll be right behind you," Edward said from the back seat.

"I know."

I stopped the SUV in the middle of the road. Two identical warehouses surrounded us on both sides, and I was unsure which one Victoria would come out of.

I checked the time on the stereo clock; I had five minutes to go.

I leaned back into the seat, took several deep calming breaths and allowed my mind to wander through the memories I had of Jasper and our short lives together.

Like clockwork, or perhaps like the bitch she is, Victoria suddenly appeared from the side door of the warehouse.

"Side door, the warehouse on the left," I whispered to Edward. Since he was hunkered down in the back seat, he couldn't see which direction she came from.

"Got it," he said, and radioed the others.

I pushed open the door of the truck and stepped out.

Victoria was standing about thirty feet in front of me, a gun in her outstretched hands with her long red hair whipping in the wind like a flag.

"I thought you would punk out."

"Why would I do that, you have something I want."

Victoria laughed. "Well then, let's go get him."

**JPOV**

_Fuck my luck!_

I was just about finished cutting through the last restraint around my ankle when I heard the dead bolt in the lock turning. I briefly thought about charging whoever it was behind the door and sinking my blade into their gut, but there was no way to tell if they had a gun or not, and I knew I would surely be shot if I tried something stupid.

So I positioned myself back on the bed and looped the remains of the restraints around my wrists, trying to make it look like I hadn't moved a muscle.

The door opened, and I sent up a silent hallelujah.

"Jared!"

He looked nervous, and moved toward me slowly.

"Hey boss."

"Thank God you're here," I said, resuming my cutting operation. "Where's Bella? Tell me she's safe at home with my brother."

"Hey boss, maybe you shouldn't do that."

I briefly looked up from sawing through the restraint. "Huh, why not?"

He looked toward the door, and then back at me. Jared swallowed thickly and at first I thought he was going to puke on me. He was sweating and blinking really fast, almost as if he was scared. "'Cause I don't want to hurt you."

"What are you talking about, Jared?"

His hands were shaking as he held up the gun. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

I dropped my knife and held up my hands. "Jared man, what the hell are you doing?"

He wiped at his face, trying to dry the tears running down his ruddy cheeks. "I-I needed….s-she…s-she said t-that s-she w-would… k-kill my s-sister if I didn't help her."

I was stunned, and my whole body felt paralyzed. "What?"

"V-Victoria. She knows everything about my family; that my baby sister lives with me. She said that if I didn't help her, she would kill Emily!"

My brain struggled to piece together what Jared said. I knew that ever since his parents died in a car wreck five years before, he had assumed responsibility for and was the legal guardian of his five year old sister; she was just an infant when their parents died. Taking care of his sister was the reason he didn't further his military career, and had come to me, asking for a job.

I stood up, keeping my hands up to show him that I meant him no harm. "Jared, put the gun down."

"I…I can't."

"Victoria is a dirty cop, but she can't take Emily away from you. Let me help you, Jared."

He shook his head and wiped at the snot running down over his lip. "S-she has proof."

"Proof of what?"

"Proof I killed James."

"What?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing. "No, Jared,_ I_ killed James. _I_ beat him to death. It was _me_."

"She wants to blame you, but I know the truth." He shook his head again, and he was crying in earnest now, almost uncontrollably. "He was alive. James was just barely alive when Paul and I pulled you off him. We…I…I took him outside, and he was still breathing. I knew I had to kill him or he would eventually kill Bella. I had to protect her, so I shot him, and then got rid of his body."

Jared's hand was shaking and I was scared that he was going to accidentally pull the trigger.

"But she saw me. She was running through the woods looking for James when she saw me! She's got pictures of me killing James! S-she said that if I killed you, your life for James', then she would stop hunting for Bella and leave Emily alone."

"Jared, listen to what you just said, and look where we _are_!" I took a small step forward. "Victoria called Bella to meet her here. She's planning to kill Bella!"

"No, no way. She said that she just wanted to scare her. I told her that I wouldn't help her if she killed Bella. I made her promise me, so that you wouldn't worry! I told her that you were a good person, and all you wanted was for Bella to be safe. I told her I owed you at least that much…to make sure Bella and the baby were safe!"

I think my heart stopped beating. "What did you say? Baby?"

He switched the gun to his other hand; the left hand, and the weaker one. "She just found out. The day Victoria kidnapped you, Carlisle told her."

I shook my head. "No, you must have heard wrong. Bella can't get pregnant."

He gave a short maniacal laugh. "You two are like rabbits, Jasper. It was only a matter of time."

A father.

_I was going to be a father!_

I was about to die at the hands of one of my most trusted men, and I was going to be a father.

And, Bella was coming here!

Bella was coming here and Victoria was going to kill my woman and my baby!

My heart dropped, and then kick started, triggering my lungs to resume normal functions as well. I took a deep breath and looked around my small prison hole, trying to formulate a plan.

There was no way I was going to die today.

There was no way I was going to let that bitch harm a hair on my woman's head!

"Jared, put the gun down and let's figure this out."

"No, she'll kill Emily, and she'll either kill me or send me to jail."

"I'm not gonna tell you again!"

But I didn't wait for him to comply before I launched myself at him….

….just as the gun went off.

**BPOV**

We had just stepped inside the warehouse when I heard the gun go off.

For a moment, the world seemed to stand still and everything around me was suspended as if in mid-motion.

Victoria looked at me.

I looked at Victoria.

I heard Alice scream.

And then, it was as if the engines turning the gears of time started again, and Victoria was running across the warehouse toward the steps.

I didn't know what to do and it seemed as if my brain stopped working altogether.

One part of me was literally itching to run after her, tackle her to the ground and beat the living shit out of her.

The other part of me was rooted to the spot, afraid that if I followed her, not only would my life be over, but the small life I carried inside of me as well.

And then I heard Jasper's voice inside of my head, warning me to stay away, to take care of myself and his legacy.

But then I felt myself running, and not in the opposite direction.

I was running toward Victoria and pulling the hidden twenty-two out of its hiding spot as I ran.

Just as I neared the metal staircase, I dropped down to one knee, took aim and fired.

Jasper had spent months showing me the finer points of how to pull a concealed gun, how to aim and shoot. I had gotten pretty good with wielding my small handgun, and could even hit beer bottles off the top of the fence post in the back yard. But the one thing we had never practiced was how to hit a moving target.

And despite how easy it looks on TV, it wasn't.

My first bullet went wide, and by the time I fired a second time, Victoria had already reached the second floor.

That bullet pinged off the metal hand rail and ricocheted, busting a window!

She stopped running and fired back down at me.

Luckily, I saw her about to take aim and I dodged behind a concrete pillar just in time.

She cursed at missing me, but kept running upward.

I yelled in frustration, and just as I was trying to make up my mind to run after her, I was grabbed from behind.

"Don't you even fuckin' think of going up there!" Edward yelled at me while pushing me toward the exit.

"She's going to kill him!" I screamed.

"Emmett and Peter are going up the back steps, I've got two guys dropping down from the roof. You are not to come in here until we secure Jasper." He pushed me outside.

Just then we heard several gun shots overhead and before Edward took off running, he slammed the door shut in my face.

"Get outta here and take care of that baby!" he called out behind him, and I could hear his feet pounding on the concrete floor.

I yelled out at Edward and pounded on the locked door.

_But he didn't come back to let me in!_

As soon as I hit the pavement outside of the warehouse, I turned and threw up in one of the bushes.

"Please God, let him be okay."

"You really should be praying for yourself, 'cause I'm about to send you to hell!" Alice screamed.

I turned around to see Alice behind me, a gun in her hands.

And it was pointed right at me.

**JPOV**

I felt the bullet enter my body, but it didn't stop me from moving.

I charged Jared like a raging bull, knocking him down and sending the gun sliding across the floor as he went. We rolled, and he fought me, all the while mumbling his sister's name over and over.

Jared and I had gone through basic training and A.I.T together, and then spent the next eighteen months fighting the enemy in the desert. We had spent countless amount of time practicing our hand-to-hand combat skills, and I could honestly take credit for teaching him everything he knew about fighting and shooting a gun. So I knew where his fighting weak points were, and I used that to my advantage.

I managed to get my hands around his throat in a choke hold, and I slammed his head against the floor a couple of times to get him to let me go. But Jared was a wrestler in high school, and somehow he managed to get my legs twisted through his; I fell backwards onto the floor with him on top of me.

He grabbed my arm, and I howled as I felt my shoulder dislocate out of socket.

I then felt my own head slamming into the floor.

I heard screaming in the distance, gun fire and then more screaming just before my world went black.

**BPOV**

Alice moved toward me, gun steady in her hands.

Strange enough, she looked like she had done this before.

"Well, well well. Look who it is, the head Oompa Loompa. What did you have to do to get an early release from the looney bin?" I taunted.

"I shot the guard," she deadpanned with perfect timing.

"Aren't you clever?"

"Considering I'm about to kill you and take off with my man upstairs, I would say yes, yes I am very clever."

"Why are you doing this, Alice?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Because he's mine."

"He doesn't _want_ you."

"I never should have left him, I know that now."

"But you can't change any of that!"

She shrugged. "Maybe not, but I can make him happy."

"He's already happy, with me and the life we're going to have together, with our baby."

Alice's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open. "You're lying!"

The gun fire inside the building stopped, and despite the fact that a crazy woman had a gun pointed at me, an odd sense of peace washed over me.

"Eight weeks," I said, rubbing my stomach, deliberately taunting her again.

She shook her head. "I hate to have to tell you this, but the only life you'll be living, is the one where you're burning in hell!"

"You first, bitch!" Rose yelled, and swung her bat.

And Alice dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks.

"What the hell are you doing here, Rose?"

She grinned like an escapee from a mental institution. " I couldn't let you guys have all the fun, now could I? But did you have to taunt her like that?"

"The bitch had it coming, plus, I saw you standing behind her. But where's my niece, Rose?"

"At home with Char, which is where I'm going right now." She bent down and slipped a pair of cuffs on one of Alice's limp wrists. Next she cuffed her to a thick pipe running up the side of the building. "Listen, don't tell Emmett I was here."

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"I'm serious, Bella. He thinks I'm trying to turn over a new leaf with being all submissive and shit, so what he don't know, won't hurt him."

"What the hell am I gonna do about her?" I looked down at Alice, and just because I couldn't help myself, I kicked her a few times, hard.

"Talk 'bout kickin' 'em when they're down." Rose looked down at Alice and kicked the woman once more for her own peace of mind. "Newton will be here any moment with Chief Swan and the FBI."

"What the fuck, Rose!"

"Calm down girlie. You think someone wouldn't notice all this gun fire and not call the police? He called me to give me a head's up that the cavalry is coming in to clean up. He's gonna hand this one," she looked down at Alice again, "over to the FBI for kidnapping, which by the way is a federal crime. Hopefully, she'll get life in prison. And, he said that he and Edward already had a story worked out."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I don't know Bells, ask Edward. I gotta get back to my baby."

Rose hugged me and just as quick as she had come, she was gone.

I hadn't heard a sound coming from the warehouse in the last few minutes, and I was beginning to worry that something terrible had gone wrong. I was scared that every man I cared about was lying somewhere within the confines of the building hurt or dead.

After a few minutes of beating on the door, I heard approaching footstep and prayed that they didn't belong to Victoria.

The door swung open.

"Emmett!" I screamed.

He scooped me up into his arms, holding me so close it felt like my ribs were cracking.

"Tell me," I demanded.

"He's been shot, and it's bad."

X-X-X-X

There was so much blood.

A dead man was lying face down, a pool of blood underneath him.

The coppery scent of it nearly made me gag, until I saw Jasper.

Peter was hovering over him, holding a bloody rag to the gaping hole in his chest, while Jasper struggled to breathe.

"Jasper!"

He turned his head, looked at me, smiled and then extended his bloody hand out to me. I fell down beside him, holding his hand to my chest.

_Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic._

"Hey…beautiful…"

"Don't try to talk, Jasper," Peter ordered.

"…so…beautiful…love you…."

"Shh, just relax," I said. "I love you too, but we can talk later, at the hospital. Okay?" I pushed his sweat soaked hair off his forehead and ran my fingers down his cheek. "What's happening, Peter?"

"I think he has a collapsed lung."

_Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic._

"Do we need to do one of those tracheotomies or something?"

"I don't know how to do that!" Peter yelled frantically. "I don't know what to do!"

"Just calm down, Peter. The ambulance is on its way," Emmett said, falling down to the floor beside me.

Jasper smiled up at me. "I'm…okay…you're…safe," he wheezed, "…forever…"

"Where's Victoria?" I asked, all of a sudden remembering the reason that the love of my life was lying on a dirty warehouse floor, fighting to breathe and struggling to live.

"The bitch is dead," Edward said, and stumbled into the room.

He was bleeding from a gunshot wound in his side, and Emmett jumped up to catch him before he fell.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Edward insisted, holding his hand over his own wound.

Emmett pushed him down to the small cot and ripped his shirt out of the way. "It went straight through you."

"No shit," Edward said. "But I think the fucking thing tore a hole in my back though."

"…baby…" Jasper whispered, reaching for my stomach. "…baby…safe?"

I wiped the tears out of my eyes. "Yes, yes the baby is safe, but how did you know?"

Jasper frowned when he felt the bullet proof vest I was wearing, so I stripped off the jacket and the vest so that he could feel my skin, our baby.

"…baby…"

_Dear God, please let him live to see his child!_

"Jared," Peter said, motioning with his chin to the dead man lying on the floor. "He was working for Victoria."

I could hear the sound of emergency sirens coming closer.

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"I don't know," Peter said. "I just don't fuckin' know."

"Take…care of…Emily…" Jasper whispered.

"Emily, who? What is he talking about, Peter?"

"…Emily…just a kid…not…her fault…please…" Jasper begged.

"Emily is Jared's five year old sister," Peter explained. "He's the only family she's got."

"Jasper, save your breath man," Emmett said.

"Ed…Edward…take care…Bella…my…baby…please…."

"Jasper, stop trying to talk," I ordered. I couldn't stand to hear him trying to arrange for someone else to take care of me while he was gurgling blood and bleeding to death. Didn't the man know that he was not allowed to die! I wasn't going to let him leave me. "Just shut up, okay? You're gonna be just fine."

"…love you…so much…" He gripped my hand with a surprising amount of force.

"Stop it!" I cried. "You're not dying. You're not!"

_Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic._

"Peter…Em…love you guys…tell mom…love her too…"

"Jasper, please brother, we need you," Peter cried.

I heard the pounding feet of the paramedic's and Mike Newton shouting directions at his officers to secure the premises.

"…promise me…Edward…"

Edward slowly moved off the cot, being careful with his own injuries, to kneel beside Jasper. He looked at me before taking Jasper's other hand into his. "Hey man, you're gonna be alright, and you'll take care of your own kid and more."

Jasper shook his head. "…doesn't hurt anymore…"

I felt his grip weakening. "Jasper, stay with me. Please! I need you; I can't raise this baby alone."

"…Edward…help you…love you…"

"Stop talking like that, bro," Emmett said.

"Ma'am, we need you to move out of the way," a paramedic said.

I clung to Jasper's hand. "I love you, Jasper. I love you!" I screamed.

"I…know…forever…"

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**AN: Leave me some love! Or hate-but not so mcuh of that! lol**


	36. Chapter 36

**Epilogue**

**To all my readers near and far, from the northeast to the Midwest, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, from the north to my home roots in the dirty South, from across the pond to down under, I thank you.**

**Beta girls, you amaze me.**

**SM's got hers, but this one is mine and it's short and sweet!**

* * *

I shifted uncomfortably on the vanity stool. For the last few hours I had not been able to get situated right no matter if I was sitting down or lying down. Something was…off.

"This one's pretty mama!" Emily giggled loudly as she held up a pair of silver chandelier earrings. "Can I wear these? Please," she begged, looking up at me with brown puppy dog eyes.

I was amazed at how fast she fit into our family, almost like she had always been with us, and had started calling me _mama_ almost immediately.

"I don't know baby, these are my special earrings. Plus, I think these are too big for you."

"But it's my party!" she whined.

"I know, which is why you should have your own pair of special earrings," I said, pulling a small jewelry box out of the top drawer of the vanity stand.

She clapped her small hands together. "For me?"

I nodded and placed the small velvet box in her hands. "Yup, just for you."

She opened the box and smiled brightly. "Wow! They're so pretty!"

"Just like you," I said, pinching her button nose.

She cupped my face with her hands. "Like you."

"Do you want help putting them on?"

She nodded. "Yes, please."

I took the backs off the diamond studded earrings and placed one in each of her ear holes. "There, look how pretty you are." I held the mirror for her to see, and just like she had seen her new Aunt Rose do, she preened at herself, turning her head to the right and then the left.

"Marvelous, darling," she said pursing her lips and then blowing me a kiss.

"Where did you learn that?"

"Eddie!" she giggled.

I rolled my eyes. Between all of the adults in the family, it was a wonder that Emily remained as sweet and innocent as she had for the last nine months she had lived with us. Jared's will specifically stated that should anything happen to him, he wanted the Whitlock family to be legal guardians over his sister. But, she not only got one family, she got two.

Emily was the only person in the world Edward allowed to call him Eddie. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and while we were very strict with him and the time he spent with her, considering his chosen profession, the two of them were nearly inseparable. She brought back his laughter, and he was, inside the walls of our home, the Edward I used to know.

With the amount of cases Child Protective Services had on its books, and the backlog in probate court, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Emily was better off with us than moving around from foster home to foster home. The judge granted us temporary custody until it could be proven that there were no surviving relatives ready and able to assume responsibility for Emily. There weren't and after ninety short days, we were granted permanent custody of the smiling five year old.

The adoption process usually takes longer, but because we were Whitlock's, the judge made concessions for us and pushed the paperwork through in six months. And today was her adoption party.

"I wanna show daddy!"

"Be careful, don't run down the stairs!" I called out to her.

"I won't!" she assured me, but kept running anyway.

I turned back to the mirror and clutched the edge of the vanity table, almost overwhelmed with the memoires that surrounded her being in our life. "Not today," I said aloud to myself. "Let Emily have her day."

But when I stood up, I nearly toppled over in pain.

I held onto the furniture as I made my way over to the intercom.

"Help…I think it's time!" I yelled, just as I felt my water break.

I heard them arguing as they ran up the stairs. The bedroom door flew open and Jasper, Emmett, Peter and Edward all nearly fell into the room.

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked, winded and almost out of breath.

Jared's bullet had killed my husband.

Jasper died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. But either because he had one helluva guardian angel looking out for him or because Jasper is just stubborn as hell, by the time he was being wheeled out of the ambulance and into the hospital, he was breathing and his heart was beating again.

The doctors, bless them, worked non-stop for seven hours repairing the damage to his lungs and sewing him up on the inside. Jasper spent the next month and a half in the hospital getting well again. But at times, he still got winded if he exerted himself too much.

We were married the same day he was released from the hospital, and now we were about to have our first, second child together.

"It could be false labor," Emmett said. "I took Rosie three times to the hospital before we got it right, remember?"

I pointed to the wet spot on my jeans. "My water broke."

"I'll go get the car," Peter shouted, already moving down the stairs.

"We can't ruin her party, Jasper," I said, pulling on his arm as he guided me to the steps.

"I think havin' a baby in the middle of cake and cookie time will kinda put a damper on things, babe."

"Not to mention, mentally scar those kids for life," Emmett added before running down the stairs past us.

"I could take over," Edward offered.

Jasper and I stopped on the middle of the stairs and stared at him.

"I mean, I know you don't want me around her if you guys aren't here, but I swear she'll be safe. I don't have anybody looking to kill me this week, and I've got my guards outside anyway."

_This week?_

I gripped Jasper's hand with the contraction, letting it pass before I spoke. "You know this is a party with a bunch of six year olds, right? Not hookers and gangsters."

Edward rolled his eyes. "I know that, Bella."

I looked at Jasper.

He smiled down at me and held me upright as another contraction hit.

"Yes, just bring her to the hospital later, okay?" I said.

"Really?" Edward asked, his green eyes lighting up.

"Don't mess this up, Edward," Jasper warned through clenched teeth. "Or I will fuck you over."

"I'll be good. I mean, I'll do a good job, I promise."

"Oh my God, Bella" Rose yelled from the bottom of the stairs, holding her own screaming baby. My teething nine month old niece, Gabriella, had apparently been woken up from all the commotion going on and she was not happy about it. "Em said you were in labor, what the hell are you doing still standing there?"

Peter honked the car horn outside.

"Rose, help Edward with the party," I said. Jasper helped me the rest of the way down the stairs and draped my coat around my shoulders.

"You're leaving him here…with me?" she asked.

No matter what Edward had done to help us, or how much he loved Emily, Rose still hated him and was deeply suspicious of him. But ever since the day he had stormed into the warehouse, putting his own life in danger to save Jasper, his slate with me was wiped clean. Yes, we still had to watch him and limit our association with him, but he was no longer a threat to me or my relationship with Jasper.

"Yes, and don't you kill him," I said.

She mumbled something under her breath and eyed Edward up and down. "You just wait 'til Emily goes to sleep."

"Rose!"

"I'll be good!" she said. "We'll come to the hospital after the party."

"I'll make sure she behaves, Bella," Char said, hugging me.

Her six month baby bump rubbed against mine. I patted her stomach. "You're next, Mrs. Whitlock."

She rubbed her stomach. "I can't wait."

"Mama! Mama!" Emily ran to me and crashed into my legs. Jasper held me steady.

"It's okay, baby. Stay here with Edward and later on tonight you'll have a new brother."

"Are you still gonna name him what I said?" she asked.

"You betcha!" I hugged her quickly and moaned through another contraction.

Eleven hours later I bore down, gripping Jasper's hand in my own, and pushed nine pound baby Aaron Samuel Whitlock out into the world.

My family was finally complete.

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